Alabama COVID cases slowly increasing after months of decline

Montgomery, Ala. - In an interview Tuesday with the Associated Press, Alabama Hospital Association president Dr. Donald Williamson summarized the state of COVID-19 in five words: “Things are not going well.”

Williamson made the remarks following data released by the Alabama Department of Health that showed over 1000 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The largest counties– Jefferson, Shelby, Montgomery, Madison and Tuscaloosa–reported the largest number of cases.

Williamson said it could take almost a month to determine if Alabama is in the midst

of a new surge or if the increase of the last few weeks is plateauing.

In September, around 750 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alabama on average each day. This week, approximately 840 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 each day.

The numbers have improved since late July and early August when Alabama reported nearly 1600 hospitalizations and 2000 new cases daily.

While new data is showing that K-12 re-openings have not led to a significant increase in new cases, Dr. Williamson said he thinks it is clear Alabamians are suffering from “COVID fatigue” and may be letting their guard down around other people and wearing masks.

Dr. Ellen Eaton at UAB tweeted that the metrics are concerning as flu season is fast

approaching. She also said there are “signals of a surge” in the past few weeks. Health officials are once again urging people to get their flu vaccine this year. Individuals can find where to get vaccines--which almost all insurance carriers cover at no cost--at VaccineFinder.org, a free nationwide database developed by Boston Children's Hospital.

According to BamaTracker.com over 2,800 Alabamians have died from the virus with approximately 175,000 total confirmed and probable cases.