June 24, 2020 - On Quarantine List for NY, NJ CT
On Quarantine List for NY, NJ & CT
June 24, 2020
The question I asked yesterday - are we on the brink of a steep march to a higher peak - was answered emphatically today. With 967 new cases, Alabama has more than doubled its daily total in just two days. Counting 27 deaths today, 50 Alabamians have died over the last two days, only the second time that has happened since the pandemic began. The 7-day positivity rate rose to 9.81, while only 4,781 tests were reported, the fourth straight day Alabama performed fewer tests than its 7-day average. There has been no public explanation by the state health department for why testing has dropped but I have heard several reports of long lines to get a test.
Hospitalizations are also becoming a major concern. Including 46 today, 96 people have been newly hospitalized during the last two days, only the second time that has ever happened. These new patients are arriving at a time when current hospitalizations are already at their highest level of the pandemic. Before adding the new patients, 680 COVID-19 patients were already hospitalized as of yesterday, only eight below the state’s all-time high. In the next few days, I would expect a slew of announcements by Alabama hospitals that sound increasingly desperate.
If you were planning to visit New York anytime soon, think again. Alabama and eight other states were placed on a new 14-day quarantine list by New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. We will remain on that list until our 7-day positivity rate is below 10% (it was 9.8% and rising today) and our 7-day rolling average of new cases falls below 490 (it was over 600 today). When Gov. Ivey refused to issue a stay-at-home order back in April, saying “We’re not California or New York,” she didn’t understand how prophetic that statement would turn out to be.
Here are the totals:
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
6/19 - 796
6/20 - 547
6/21 - 472
6/22 - 433
6/23 - 643
6/24 - 967
Mobile Co. saw a huge spike with 112 new cases, shattering its prior daily record of 80 (set on April 9). Jefferson Co. had 87 cases, only two fewer than its daily record. Montgomery Co. also had 87 new cases.