June 9, 2020 - A New Level
A New Level
June 9, 2020
It is increasingly clear that Alabama has reached a new level in the number of newly reported COVID-19 cases. On Memorial Day, May 25, Alabama reported 639 new cases. Prior to that day, our state had exceeded 400 cases only once - on May 21 with 403 cases. On 6 of the next 7 days, including Memorial Day, Alabama reported nearly 500 new cases or more each day.
Then came Jefferson Davis’ birthday (a state holiday) on June 1, which coincided with ADPH’s decision to begin excluding “probable” cases from the daily count. That was immediately followed by a computer glitch at ADPH that was not resolved until Friday, June 5. From June 1-4, new case totals ranged from 216 to 333.
Since last Friday, Alabama has seen more than 400 new cases each day - including today when we had 497. Therefore, excluding Monday through Thursday last week, when holidays and faulty computers interfered, we have seen over 400 cases reported on 11 out of 12 days, whereas 400 cases were exceeded only once in the 70 days that preceded it.
There were 33 new hospitalizations today compared to 32 yesterday and 29 the day before that. There are currently 600 patients being treated for COVID-19 in Alabama hospitals, which is roughly comparable to the number of people in hospitals since the beginning of May.
These statistics, as a whole, suggest the situation in Alabama is getting slowly worse. If 400 is now the floor for new cases, even before taking into account the effect of recent street protests, we may be on the verge of a significant increase in hospitalizations. If, as reported, the state’s hospitals are running near capacity, that would be an ominous development. Here are the 14-day totals:
5/27 - 353
5/28 - 487
5/29 - 511
5/30- 616
5/31- 593
6/1 - 333
6/2 - 228
6/3 - 216
6/4 - 307
6/5 - 640
6/6 - 458
6/7 - 457
6/8 - 425
6/9 - 497
Montgomery Co. reported 93 new cases, followed by Jefferson Co. with 53 and Tuscaloosa Co. with 40. It is also significant that Morgan Co. (home of Decatur) had 34 new cases after reporting 47 on June 6. There is clearly a spike happening in that county.