May 26, 2020
May 26, 2020
Josef Stalin famously said, "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." We lost 14 more men, women and children today in Alabama, 580 in all. Like soldiers who lose their lives on the battlefield, these people mostly died alone, far away from their loved ones. It is important not to lose sight of the human dimension in this crisis when we pore over statistics.
ADPH made significant revisions to its Memorial Day weekend statistics this afternoon. On Sunday, 348 people were newly infected, not 329, as originally reported. And on Monday, there were 646 people infected, not 508, as reported. No explanation was given for these major revisions. Approximately 33,000 tests were performed last week compared to 28,000 the week before that; there were 2,883 new cases last week compared to 2,162 the week before. The positive test rate continued its steady climb over 8%.
To cap it off, Alabama set a second consecutive record today when 664 people became new statistics. Only two weeks after Alabama opened up, we have nearly doubled our new cases. Remember what the epidemiologist said about the lilies on the pond.
Folks, these statistics are people, just like you and me. Just like our mothers and fathers, our sisters and brothers. Here are the 14 day-totals (there will be a final report just before midnight):
5/13 - 256
5/14 - 343
5/15 - 313
5/16 - 341
5/17 - 309
5/18 - 300
5/19 - 387
5/20 - 358
5/21 - 403
5/22 - 367
5/23 - 374
5/24 - 348
5/25 - 646
5/26 - 664
Montgomery led the way with 110 new cases, followed by Tuscaloosa with 49 and Bullock with 34.