November 29, 2020 - Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
November 29, 2020
Thanksgiving is a peculiar American holiday. Throughout our history, it has been celebrated in the interstices between hope and sadness. According to tradition, the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people after a bountiful harvest followed a year of horrific scarcity and disease. The Continental Congress proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving in 1777 (after the British surrender at Saratoga), imploring God’s blessings in the uncertain war for independence. The national holiday then fell into disuse before President Lincoln resurrected it in gratitude for the Union victory at Gettysburg, a bloody battle that claimed over 50,000 casualties.
This Thanksgiving week, Americans again confronted feelings of optimism and despair. On Wednesday, as Pfizer and Moderna awaited emergency use authorization for their vaccines, 2,332 more of us died of the virus, the highest daily total since May 6 (over 272,000 deaths in all). The country had 4 million new cases during the month of November, more than double the number in October. And the escalation is likely to become even steeper, as indoor activities and holiday travels are expected to increase in the weeks ahead.
In Alabama, Thanksgiving is intertwined with college football. Alabama Coach Nick Saban missed the Iron Bowl on Saturday after testing positive, one of 14,723 Alabamians to receive that diagnosis over the last 7 days (2,639 cases reported on Thanksgiving Day alone). That represents 6% of Alabama’s cases since the pandemic began. There were 54,327 reported tests over the same period, resulting in a 27% positivity rate for the week, a new high for our State.
This record high positivity rate was reported today, the same day as news that our statewide hospitalizations hit 1,609 (97 reporting hospitals). That number is just 4 patients below the State record for confirmed hospitalizations, set on August 6, a day when there were 8 more reporting hospitals (105 in all). Since last Sunday, there has been a stunning net increase of 277 COVID patients statewide, a rise of more than 20% … during a vacation week, no less!
Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new week, when you can expect to hear dire warnings from Alabama’s hospitals that are fearful of being overwhelmed. The last peak in statewide hospitalizations stands in stark contrast to the current situation. On August 6, hospitalizations crested at 1,613 before commencing a steady 8-week decline. It is especially ominous to reach the same peak on the final day of Thanksgiving week, a period filled with travel and family get-togethers, because we can expect new cases to climb sharply in the days ahead.
If you have been careful to avoid this virus, it is doubly important to shake off pandemic fatigue now. Help is just around the corner - in the form of one or more vaccines. With hospitals filling rapidly, this is not the time to take additional risk. With vigilance, we will win this war on COVID. Stay safe and wear your mask. The totals:
11/16 - 1410
11/17 - 1616
11/18 - 2638
11/19 - 2424
11/20 - 2463
11/21 - 2335
11/22 - 1798
11/23 - 1574
11/24 - 2785
11/25- 2453
11/26 - 2639
11/27 - 917
11/28 - 2119
11/29 - 2236
Jefferson (404), Madison (202), Shelby (150), Morgan (125) and Tuscaloosa (118) counties all reported more than 100 cases today, including probables.
Fifty-seven of Alabama’s 67 counties now have 14-day positivity rates above 20%, including 7 of the 10 most populous counties in the State: Montgomery (21.4%); Jefferson (22.8%); Madison (23.2%); Baldwin (23.2%); Shelby (24.0%); Calhoun (27.2%); and Morgan (38.6%). Mobile (18.9%); Lee (18.4%); and Tuscaloosa (16.5%) are the only populous counties with 14-day rates below 20%.