December 14, 2020 - Help is On the Way
Help is On the Way
December 14, 2020
This pandemic has invited plenty of analogies to World War II - Pearl Harbor and Normandy come to mind. As American deaths from the virus neared 300,000 over the weekend, a comparison to 291,000 U.S. combat deaths in the Second World War seemed unavoidable. Now, video clips of excited hospital workers greeting vaccine shipments around the country invoke images of returning G.I.’s in Times Square. Except for one thing -- it is way too early to declare victory against this pandemic. But it is an important step.
It was reported that 3 Alabama hospitals received an initial shipment of vaccines today and 12 more are expected to do so tomorrow. A full list of the 15 hospitals receiving the product has not yet been released but it is known to include UAB Hospital; Huntsville Hospital Health System; Baptist Health System; Cullman Regional; DCH Health System; East Alabama Medical Center; Jackson Hospital (Montgomery); and Birmingham V.A. Health Care System. Today, the Mobile County Health Dept added the names of Mobile Infirmary; University Hospital; USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital; Providence Hospital; and Springhill Medical Center.
The new case data reported by ADPH was collected on Sunday, so the numbers are deceptively low again - 2,264 cases (incl. 332 probables). After no reported test data on Saturday and Sunday, ADPH disclosed 27,260 tests today, an average of 9,087 tests per day over the last 3 days. The weekly positivity rate averages 32.6%.
Record hospitalizations are the major story of the day. Statewide, there are 2,286 current COVID patients in 105 hospitals. As recently as Thanksgiving Day, there were just 1,484 patients. UAB and DCH Health acknowledged record patient loads on Saturday, and the Huntsville Hospital Health System did the same again today - 439 patients overall, including 171 patients at Huntsville Hospital; 85 at Decatur-Morgan; 41 at Madison County Hospital; 40 at Helen-Keller; 31 at Marshall Medical South; 25 at Marshall Medical North; and 24 at Athens-Limestone.
Another disturbing recent trend should be noted. Several counties in the Black Belt are now seeing a spike in cases, matching the severe outbreaks in North Alabama counties. Indeed, 5 of the 10 counties in the State with the highest per capita cases over the last 7 days are located in the Black Belt - Clarke, Wilcox, Greene, Marengo and Hale. Sadly, these are poor counties with few medical facilities and virtually no safety net.
So, while I’m excited that help is on the way, it is not time to declare victory. As they say, vaccines won’t defeat this virus; only vaccinations will. The design and implementation of a careful, competent and equitable vaccine distribution and inoculation plan is vital in order to save lives. Here are the totals:
12/1 - 3376
12/2 - 3928
12/3 - 3531
12/4 - 3840
12/5 - 3390
12/6 - 2288
12/7 - 2335
12/8 - 4436
12/9 - 3522
12/10 - 4735
12/11 - 3853
12/12 - 4066
12/13 - 2790
12/14 - 2264
Jefferson County had 441 cases, followed by Madison County with 247 and Shelby with 132. Shockingly, there are now 19 counties with 14-day positivity rates over 40%. It is almost as if our State has given up even trying to control the multiple severe outbreaks.