June 18, 2020 - Whistling Past the Graveyard
Whistling Past the Graveyard
June 18, 2020
So much for the temporary “respite”. With 894 more cases (including probables), Alabama jumped back into the fire today. It’s the second highest total (Sunday’s 1,041 being the highest) since the pandemic began. There were 27 new hospitalizations and 677 current statewide hospitalizations, just off the all-time high of 683. For the fifth day in a row, the 7-day positivity rate remained above 12% - the last time that happened was in early April. Only South Carolina and Arizona have a higher positivity rate than Alabama.
If you are inclined to dismiss this virus as a disease that only impacts people who are disadvantaged, let me suggest you take a look at the Jefferson County Health Dept zip code map, shown here: https://jcdh.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=5e342c7bd0d94b5c9fa0ba9683a6b411. If you live in Mountain Brook or Hoover, your chances of contracting the disease may be higher than if you live in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign to rewrite history continues unabated. Oklahoma reported 259 new cases Wednesday, the state’s largest single-day increase ever while Tulsa County has, by far, the most active cases in the state; yet, WH press secretary McEnany insists the indoor rally will be “a safe opportunity to congregate.” For the most part, blue states refuse to play along with such “alternative facts” but red states, like ours, continue to whistle past the graveyard. Below is a graphic illustration of the real-life impact of such rhetoric on the growth of COVID in red states vs. blue states:
Here are the 14-day totals for Alabama:
6/5 - 640
6/6 - 458
6/7 - 457
6/8 - 425
6/9 - 497
6/10 - 567
6/11 - 856
6/12 - 865
6/13 - 891
6/14 - 1,041
6/15 - 657
6/16 - 640
6/17 - 400
6/18 - 894
Today’s new cases were widespread with 27 counties having double digit increases and Montgomery leading the way with 103.