January 8, 2021
It is the end of a week like no other - a week in which a global pandemic that has killed almost 2 million persons around the globe, including 375,000 Americans, was overshadowed by news of an attempted coup in the world’s oldest and most powerful democracy. You know it is a shameful blot on America’s legacy and image around the world when autocratic Turkish President Erdogan calls the storming of the Capitol “a disgrace for democracy.”
America now must pick up the pieces and that is surely what we will do. But first, we must defeat the virus. For the 3rd time in 4 days, Alabama reported more than 5,000 cases - 5,057 to be exact (incl. 1,275 probables). Our positivity rate now stands at 43%, following the report of 12,202 tests. Most disturbing is the death of 111 more Alabamians, coming on the heels of 86 deaths yesterday. Today is Alabama’s 2nd deadliest day of the pandemic and this week was our deadliest week. All in all, 5,191 Alabamians have lost their lives and we will surpass 400,000 positive cases this weekend.
For the week, in Alabama, (i) new daily cases rose 22.4%; (ii) new daily reported deaths rose 70.4%; and (iii) COVID- related hospitalizations rose 7.1%. There are now 3,046 COVID patients in 108 reporting hospitals, which equates to 28.2 patients per hospital, or 62 patients per 100K Alabamians.
On the vaccine front, we were told in November that 20 million Americans would receive their first shots by the end of December, but only 6.25 million doses have been administered so far. In Alabama, about 49,000 out of the State’s 245,000 doses have been administered, according to the NY Times and Bloomberg News. Part of the reason for the delay may be the difficulty imposed by rigid adherence to the tiered distribution plan - for example, about 90 of 200 high-risk medical personnel at Clay County Hospital reportedly will not take the vaccine, even though the hospital has so many COVID patients that oxygen is running low and beds have been added to the ICU, divided by plastic sheeting.
Alabama is not the only state that is experiencing a slow roll out. As a result, the head of the FDA urged states to begin vaccinating lower-priority groups against COVID, including persons age 75 and older and first responders, such as policemen and firefighters. Today, the State Health Dept agreed to do just that, beginning Monday, January 18. Appointments at locations throughout the State will be first come, first served. To schedule an appointment for the free vaccination, call 855-566-5333.
Although there are many reasons to feel discouraged tonight, I believe we are seeing the darkness before dawn. Twelve days from now, a new administration will take power in Washington, led by a President who has left no doubt that defeating this pandemic is his highest priority, and he will spare no expense until the battle is won. Rest assured there will be setbacks - but we can withstand setbacks, so long as we are told the truth. The totals:
12/26 - 1032
12/27 - 2170
12/28 - 2269
12/29 - 3907
12/30 - 5106
12/31 - 4406
1/1 - 4521
1/2 - 3711
1/3 - 2476
1/4 - 2161
1/5 - 5498
1/6 - 4591
1/7 - 5046
1/8 - 5057
There were 786 cases reported in Jefferson County; 400 cases in Madison County (the 4th time since 12/18 Madison has reached 400); 326 in Mobile County; 248 in Montgomery County; 218 in Shelby County; and 207 in Baldwin County. Nine more counties had at least 100 cases, including rural Coffee County (county seat: Elba), in the Wiregrass, which reported a record-breaking 112 cases.