July 9, 2021
After reporting 1,613 new cases of Covid-19 for the 5-day period ending Wednesday, ADPH reported another 1,160 new cases today. That equates to a daily average of 580 on Thursday and Friday, and an average of 396 new cases per day over the last 7 days. It also represents a 130% increase in daily new cases compared to 2 weeks ago. Aside from one week in May when ADPH was accounting for backlogs, you have to go back to April 27 to find a higher 7-day moving average of new infections in Alabama.
There are now 251 statewide COVID patients in 104 reporting hospitals in Alabama, or 2.41 patients per hospital. The last time our hospitalization rate was higher than 2.41 patients per hospital was on June 2. Since hospitalizations are a lagging indicator, we may expect that rate to continue to rise in coming days.
If these numbers seem alarming, they are, yet they are not surprising. Ever since the Delta variant arrived on our shores, unvaccinated Americans have faced much greater risk of infection and the nasty outcomes associated with it. Twice as transmissible as the Alpha (a/k/a U.K.) variant, Delta has become the dominant strain in our country. Vaccines have proved highly effective against Delta, but Alabama is the 2nd least vaccinated state in the country.
Unvaccinated individuals over the age of 12 have had ample opportunity to protect themselves. By refusing a vaccine, however, they put everyone else at risk because the longer it takes to stamp out this virus, the more likely a variant will arise that can penetrate the protection of existing vaccines. Far worse is the fact that children under the age of 12 have no ability to protect themselves because vaccines have not yet been approved for children that age. And a return to school lies just around the corner.
Today, the CDC released new guidance for schools, urging them to fully reopen and calling on local districts to tailor their public health measures to local data. The updated guidance acknowledges that a uniform approach may not be useful when vaccination rates vary so greatly. However, the guidance recommends that masks continue to be worn by all unvaccinated students, teachers or staff members.
As the pandemic has gone on, children make up a greater and greater portion of the infected population. Serious illnesses and death among children are rare, and young children are less likely to transmit the virus to others than are teens and adults. But infected children can develop an inflammatory syndrome weeks after contracting the virus, even those who were not initially symptomatic. Other children experience lingering long-haul symptoms, including long-term mental health problems, such as depression, suicidal ideation and even shrinkage of the brain. Data is currently limited in the U.S., but studies show that up to 40% of Italian kids and 15-20% of English kids experience “long-haul” symptoms.
With school beginning in less than one month, this topic deserves more attention than it is getting in Alabama. Vaccines are expected to become available to school-age children soon (perhaps as early as September). Until then, will we protect our children (and their parents) from this deadly virus when they set off for school?
The Bible teaches us that Jesus once said, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”
6/23 - 191
6/25 - 540
6/28 - 517
6/30 - 532
7/2 - 315
7/7 - 1,613
7/9 - 1,160