December 29, 2020 - People are Dying
People are Dying
December 29, 2020
After 8 months of writing this daily newsletter, I’ve grown accustomed to the sadness and resignation on the faces of friends who discover how bad the COVID situation is in Alabama. What will it take for that sadness to be replaced by anger and indignation? Why are the leaders of this State not screaming about the travesty visited upon us every single day? Alabama ranks at or near the top in every awful category that matters - new daily cases per capita, hospitalizations per capita, positivity rate, even deaths per capita (a more recent phenomenon). All categories, except testing, where we are consistently at or near the bottom in national rankings.
A rolling assortment of states periodically joins Alabama at the top of these rankings. This summer, it was Arizona, Texas and Florida. By October, it was Wisconsin, Iowa and Kansas. Then, Idaho and the Dakotas. Now, it’s California, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. The one constant throughout the year has always been Alabama. Always.
Today is no different. The 4-day holiday pause has ended and daily case counts are climbing again. ADPH reported 3,907 cases today (incl. 1,887 probables) and only 7,075 tests, producing a positivity rate of 55.2% and a weekly rolling average between 36.3% and 39.9%, depending on your tracker. According to the Covid Tracking Project, our positivity rate is the 2nd highest in the nation and has not dropped below 30% since the end of November. By contrast, the State of Minnesota, which is adjacent to the Dakotas and prominently figured in the George Floyd street protests, has a positivity rate of just 4.6%.
After a 217-patient spike yesterday, hospitalizations rose again today. There are now a record 2,804 patients (with 106 reporting hospitals), an average of 26.5 patients per hospital. At Cullman Regional, the ICU is operating at 188% capacity while, at Decatur Morgan Hospital, COVID deaths have tripled since September and the ICU is running at 118% capacity. Said Dr. James Boyle, a prominent Decatur pulmonologist, “We do see death. That’s part of what we do; it’s part of our training. The difficulty this year is just the tremendous number. We can’t grieve for one patient before we have to go take care of another.”
So, here we are. Second highest positivity rate. Second highest ICU occupancy rate. Third highest per capita hospitalization rate. Sixth highest per capita daily case rate and twelfth highest per capita death rate over the last 7 days. All, while maintaining the third lowest per capita rate of testing. If this were another state, citizens would be up in arms. Instead, California commands the headlines, having a positivity rate of just 11.6%, less than one-third Alabama’s rate.
The people of Alabama deserve better and we should demand it. Some public health experts, like Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo and Dr. Michael Saag, have repeatedly and publicly sounded the alarm, but key public officials and other leaders are notably absent. Where are the Governor and State Health Officer? It is not enough to simply ask people to be considerate of one another. Why not enforce the mask order? Why not use the power of the bully pulpit? People are dying.
I don’t have all the answers … but I know we are quickly running out of time and we must start asking the questions. The totals:
12/16 - 4107
12/17 - 4695
12/18 - 5348
12/19 - 4221
12/20 - 2548
12/21 - 2380
12/22 - 4979
12/23 - 4758
12/24 - 4232
12/25 - 3625
12/26 - 1032
12/27 - 2170
12/28 - 2269
12/29 - 3907
Jefferson County’s cases more than doubled since yesterday - 705 today. Madison (236), Tuscaloosa (227) and Baldwin (210) reported more than 200 cases. Of the 10 most populous counties, Morgan (56.3%) had a 14-day positivity rate over 50%, while Shelby (39.5%), Jefferson (38.6%), Tuscaloosa (38.5%), Baldwin (37.8%), Mobile (37.3%), Calhoun (36.7%), Madison (36.6%), Montgomery (36.2%) and Lee (34.6%) had rates over 30%.