March 11, 2022
It has been 7 days since my last newsletter on March 4 and exactly 2 years since the coronavirus arrived in Alabama. This week has seen continued improvement in Alabama’s Covid data compared to the prior week, as (i) reported cases dropped 6.8% (net of 2,654 cases resulting from positive tests performed between December 21, 2021 and February 25, 2022) and (ii) hospitalizations dropped 33.6% - from 735 statewide patients down to 488 patients. In terms of both new daily cases as well as hospitalizations, Alabama has returned to pre-Omicron levels last achieved on December 15, when the first Omicron case in the state was officially detected.
Alabama’s current 7-day average of 680 cases per day remains above the 2-year low of 153 cases per day, and our 488 patients are more than the 2-year low of 233 patients - both low marks were achieved last June. Still, both trends are headed in the right direction and I’m optimistic we will soon revisit those pandemic lows again.
There is one very sobering statistic, however, and that is our death rate. In the last week, we averaged 50 more deaths per day and our overall deaths are rapidly approaching 19,000 (currently 18,832). Alabama will soon surpass Arizona as the state having the 2nd highest per capita death rate in the nation - behind only Mississippi. It should surprise no one that Alabama and Mississippi also have the two lowest vaccination rates in the nation.
The British medical journal, The Lancet, published a study this week which analyzed “excess deaths” data from 74 countries and 266 states and territories between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2021. It was a measure of how many more people died than would be expected had the pandemic not occurred, which accounts both for people killed by Covid directly — confirmed and undiagnosed cases — as well as those whose deaths may be indirectly attributed to the pandemic. Its conclusion was staggering - more than 18 million people, or 3 times more than the reported global death toll.
A comprehensive study of the effects of long Covid, published Monday in the journal, Nature, is also getting a lot of attention. The study generally confirmed that Covid can result in significant long-term damage to neurological and cardiovascular function. Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD, an epidemiologist who writes a blog called “Your Local Epidemiologist”, has written an excellent mini-series on this topic in language that lay persons can understand. https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/
It seems clear the immediate trauma of this pandemic is quickly winding down, but there is profound wreckage left behind. Human beings are naturally resilient and our lives will eventually return to normal. As that unfolds,however, we should not forget the lessons learned from this tragedy in dedication to the memories of those who were lost. The totals:
2/26 - 1,169
2/27 - 358
2/28 - 201
3/1 - 786
3/2 - 1,259
3/3 - 762
3/4 - 573
3/5 - 689
3/6 - 673
3/7 - 1,062 (excluding 2,654 positive tests between 12/20 & 2/25)
3/8 - 625
3/9 - 536
3/10 - 632
3/11 - 545