September 28, 2020 - Alabama Pauses While Other Places Ignite
Alabama Pauses While Other Places Ignite
September 28, 2020
On a relative basis, Alabama’s recent COVID data are encouraging again today, but this is precisely the moment when it is crucial to be vigilant. There were 662 reported cases (incl. 161 probables), which lowers the 7-day average to 1,029. There was another drop in daily tests, however - 5,107 compared with 5,347 yesterday, lowering the 7-day average to 8,118. Our weekly positivity rate has fallen to 12.13%, which is not good, but at least, we are no longer in the top 10 states in that category.
Current hospitalizations remained stable - 753 current inpatients in 104 reporting hospitals statewide. Although that number represents a 12-patient increase over yesterday, 8 more hospitals reported their totals today. The day’s death count has not yet been posted on the ADPH dashboard at 5:30 pm.
In other states, there are ominous signs that are impossible to ignore. Make no mistake, a second wave of infections is already striking the Upper Midwest and Great Plains states - the Dakotas, Idaho and Wisconsin have positivity rates over 20%, while Illinois (3.73% positivity), Ohio (2.64%) and Minnesota (4.71%) are seeing a significant increase in daily cases. But that’s not all - Arkansas (9.74%), Tennessee (5.73%) and North Carolina (7.93%) are also trending up, while Utah (12.89%) and Montana (6.58%) have set new individual records. Even in the NY (1.93%)/ NJ (2.36%) metropolitan area, there is increasing concern. Gov. Cuomo said that reaching 2% positivity makes him “nervous” and surpassing 3% would make “alarm bells to go off.”
Meanwhile, based on an extensive review of 277,285 confirmed cases in U.S. children from March to September, the rate of infection in adolescents aged 12 to 17 (37.4 per 100K) was found to be twice the rate in children aged 5 to 11 (19 per 100K). Children often have mild symptoms, if any at all, so some researchers have suggested that the low numbers of confirmed cases in children may result from a lack of testing.
As you can see, even though our positivity rate has dropped to almost 12%, we have no cause for celebration. If a second wave comes to Alabama, it will emerge from a higher plateau than in other states. This is no time to leave your mask at home. The totals:
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
9/27 - 730
9/28 - 662