September 10, 2022
For the second straight year, September has gotten off to a good start as it relates to Covid-19. Like the rest of the United States, Alabama saw a significant drop in reported cases, averaging 1,360 new cases per day vs. 2,385 new cases per day last week, marking a 43% decline week-over-week. Nationally, the daily case count (64,707 per day) represented a 23% decline from last week.
Statewide hospitalizations also dropped 6% in Alabama this week, from 683 patients to 639 patients (nationally, the number of patients remained the same at around 35,500 patients). Given the steep drop in cases recently, we are bound to see an accelerated decline in Covid-related hospitalizations in coming weeks.
In light of the improvement in the United States, it is worth examining the status of the pandemic elsewhere in the world. After all, you may recall that last year’s Delta surge dissipated rapidly until just after Thanksgiving Day, when the Omicron variant first arrived on our shores. The Omicron strain first appeared in South Africa, then spread to Europe and the United States.
In general, the global outlook is improving, especially in Western Europe, South America and Australia. The outlook in Mexico and Canada, already better than in the United States, remains steady. However, parts of Asia - principally Micronesia, Taiwan and South Korea - show elevated levels of infection. And we should all be concerned about the situation in the continent of Africa, where vaccination rates are extremely low. For instance, according to the New York Times, Mali had the highest percentage increase in reported cases over the last 14 days and its vaccination rate is just 8%. It may be only a matter of time before another variant as destructive as Omicron emerges in an environment like that.
This global pandemic has proven beyond a doubt that we live in an interconnected world. To avoid a repeat of the last 2 ½ years, we must pay greater attention to the public health of nations far from our shores. More resources must be devoted not only to delivering vaccines to the less developed world, but also to researching and developing better vaccines, like intranasal mucosal vaccines that may reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses. Flu Mist is an example of a mucosal vaccine.
The White House announced that the recently introduced bivalent vaccine targeting two different strains of Omicron signals the beginning of annual Covid shots, just like routine flu shots. If that turns out to be true, it could be a huge step forward. But, if it causes everyone to relax under the mistaken belief that this pandemic is now history - or worse yet, that global pandemics can’t happen again - then it will be a tragedy.
In other words, we must never forget that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has taken the lives of over 6.5 million people worldwide, including nearly 1.1 million Americans. Those who choose to forget or overlook the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. The totals:
8/27 - not reporting
8/28 - not reporting
8/29 - not reporting
8/30 - not reporting
8/31 -12,210
9/1 - 2,485
9/2 - 1,995
9/3 - 1,870
9/4 - not reporting
9/5 - 1,629
9/6 - 784
9/7 - 1,806
9/8 - 1,796
9/9 - 1,634