September 26, 2020 - Autumn Weather
Autumn Weather
September 26, 2020
Over 33 million people have now been infected by COVID-19 throughout the world and at least 1 million of them have succumbed. In the U.S., the number of infections has reached 7.25 million and almost 210,000 Americans have died. By the end of this week, according to the U.S. Dept of Veteran Affairs, more Americans will have died from this virus than all Americans (215,000) who died in battle during the entire Civil War - on both sides combined.
In his famous address, President Lincoln dedicated the cemetery at Gettysburg to “the brave men, living and dead, who struggled” there and “the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion”. Sadly, the Americans who have died battling the coronavirus will not be remembered in the same way, except by those loved ones they left behind.
In Alabama today, there were 933 cases (incl. 280 probables) and 10 more deaths, taking us over the 2,500 threshold for deaths overall. There were 8,297 reported tests and our weekly positivity rate is now 12.28%, which is higher than all but 7 states. There were 53,629 reported cases yesterday in the U.S., which is the highest nationwide total since August 14. The hottest of the hotspots in the country are now in the Midwest, as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri all reported more than 1,000 cases yesterday. The Dakotas, Kansas and Nebraska are all in the top 5 in the nation for highest positivity rates.
We are left to wonder if the autumn weather, which has cooled in the Midwest, will eventually lead to another spike in Alabama and the rest of the South. The last three days have offered a hint of that possibility, but we’ll just have to see. Meanwhile, schools have mostly returned to in-person instruction and college football is officially underway. Madison City schools reported 30 new positive cases this week, with 228 students and teachers under quarantine.
The 14-day totals:
9/13 - 1,109
9/14 - 704
9/15 - 701
9/16 - 927
9/17 - 670
9/18 - 1,106
9/19 - 1,301
9/20 - 798
9/21 - 818
9/22 - 804
9/23 - 569
9/24 - 1,053
9/25 - 2,452
9/26 - 933
Jefferson County had 104 new cases followed by Houston County (county seat: Dothan) with 101.