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Alabama’s coronavirus numbers are plummeting.
Many of the key metrics used to track the pandemic have improved dramatically in recent weeks. This includes both the number of new cases reported each day and the number of people treated for the virus in hospitals across the state.
“This is the most optimistic we have been, I think, perhaps since it all started,” Public health official Scott Harris said at a press conference on Friday. “We see a way forward. I mean, we know how we’re going to get there now. And it seems to be working.
The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 6,545 new cases of the virus this week – the lowest weekly total since early October.
[Can’t see the chart? Click here.]
The record for reported cases in one week was recorded in the first full week of 2021, when the state reported more than 28,500 cases. Since then, weekly cases have dropped by almost 80%.
“The message is that we’re not out of the woods, but we are seeing how out of the woods,” Harris said. “And please don’t stop doing the things that you are doing. Now is not the time to stop wearing your mask, or now is not the time to go out in large groups of people and think that everything is going to be okay. “
The week’s low case count dropped the state’s 7-day average for new cases below 1,000 cases per day for the first time in months. That number fell to 970.7 on Thursday, before falling further to 935 cases per day on Friday.
The last time the state’s 7-day average was this low was October 12.
[Can’t see the chart? Click here.]
The 7-day average has fallen 78% since Jan. 10, when the state reported 4,281 cases per day.
The number of hospitalizations in Alabama has similarly dropped. The number of people treated for the virus in public hospitals on any given day fell below 1,000 this week. State data shows 989 people were being treated in Alabama on Thursday. That number fell again on Friday, to 951 inpatients with 106 hospitals reporting.
As of January 11, less than a month and a half ago, 3,084 people were being treated for the virus in hospitals in Alabama.
[Can’t see the chart? Click here.]
Harris compared the state’s current hospitalization figures to what the state saw last summer on Friday.
“We’re right about 1,000 confirmed hospital patients in the state right now. This is a number that we never reached, if I’m not mistaken, until June or July of last year, ”he said. “You know the really tough July and August that we’ve had, I don’t believe we’ve ever been over 1,600. But we’re below that level at this point. So it’s definitely better than we have been since the start of summer.
Harris warned there was still work to be done.
“1,000 people in the hospital is a lot of sick,” he says. “I don’t want to, you know, try to sound too optimistic about this … we’re almost there.” We still have a few months left. Please keep thinking about the most vulnerable. Think about our seniors and people with chronic health conditions, who will not be successful if they are infected with this disease and make sure you protect them.
Reported deaths from the virus are also on the decline, although still higher than they were at any time in 2020. The state reported 393 new virus deaths this week – the lowest number since the first week of 2021.
[Can’t see the chart? Click here.]
At the current rate, the state is on track to cross the 10,000 death mark later this month.
Meanwhile, the state continues its efforts to immunize the people of Alabama. ADPH reports that more than 717,000 doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine have been administered here.
More than 530,000 people received at least the first of two injections needed for the full vaccine. This represents about 11% of the state’s population. Of these, nearly 187,000 were completely inoculated, meaning that they received both doses. This represents about 4% of the state’s population.
[Can’t see the chart? Click here.]
The state saw a sharp increase in vaccinations last week, but limited supply and winter conditions kept this week’s numbers down. As of Friday, the state has reported the fewest doses given in a week since mid-January, but data for that week is not yet complete.
For the first time since October, Jefferson County – the most populous county in the state – added less than 1,000 new cases in a week. Jefferson again added the highest number of cases of all Alabama counties this week at 742, but the number is significantly lower than the totals seen in December and January.
Mobile and Madison counties each added more than 500 new cases this week – the only other counties to do so.
You can see how many cases and deaths each county has added this week and during the pandemic as a whole in the table below:
[Can’t see the table? Click here.]
Do you have an idea for a data story on Alabama? Email Ramsey Archibald at [email protected]and follow him on Twitter @RamseyArchibald. Read more Alabama data stories here.
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