May 29-B, 2020
May 29-B, 2020
I will be very brief tonight. In Alabama, we passed two grim milestones today: more than 17,000 total cases (501 today) and more than 600 total deaths (19 today). On four of the last five days, Alabama has exceeded 490 new cases. Don't be fooled - Alabama is currently losing the battle with this virus.
To be fair, Alabama is not alone. Our neighbor MS to the west saw 418 new cases; TN to the north- 406 new cases; GA to the east - 597; and FL to the south - 1,212. In. Just. One. Day.
Our southern neighbors - North Carolina (1,129), Texas (1,285); S.C. (343); and Virginia (1,132) - are also fighting losing battles. The numbers out of Utah (343); Arizona (702); and Wisconsin (733) are further proof that the heartland of America is under siege. Most of these states saw new daily records.
The first step in defeating this virus is to acknowledge the truth. No amount of spin will make this go away. When public officials say we have more cases because we are doing more testing, that is simply not true - adding antibody tests to the totals won't make it true. Attributing some COVID-19 deaths to pneumonia, as reports in several nearby states have alleged, might fool some people some of the time, but it only prolongs the agony .
In the final analysis, our salvation depends on personal accountability by our leaders and responsible behavior by all of us. Here are the totals for the last 14 days:
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 - 639
5/26 - 592
5/27 - 353
5/28 - 490 (revised from 498)
5/29 - 501
Montgomery (49), Tuscaloosa (42) and Mobile (39) lead the way.