State Health Department Offers COVID-19 Testing
The Alabama Department of Public Health announced Friday it now has the capability to test for COVID-19. Prior to the announcement, the state health agency routed tests to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
“While the risk of this new coronavirus disease remains low in Alabama, we have been working diligently to prepare for any cases that may occur,” state health officer Dr. Scott Harris said. No cases of coronavirus have been reported in Alabama.
UAB expects to have its own coronavirus test available in the next week or two. In a briefing to reporters Friday, Dr. Molly Fleece, assistant professor in UAB’s Division of Infectious Diseases, said the hospital has been preparing for months.
“We have plans in place and we are perpetually working on outbreak situations, simulations, screenings, and our response if we do get a case of COVID-19 in our health system.”
UAB is testing a vaccine for the disease in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health. “It has gone through animal model testing and looks to be fairly promising,” Fleece said. Researchers hope to begin human trials in a month or two, she said, but vaccines take a long time to produce. She said the vaccine’s availability on the market is at least a year away.
In the meantime, UAB continues to take precautions to prevent the spread of the disease. Hospital officials ask people with symptoms to call before going in. “If you are experiencing symptoms, call your primary care physician or urgent care facility first.”
Patients with upcoming appointments are receiving recorded calls from UAB urging them to stay away if they’ve visited a country in the last 14 days with known coronavirus or if they’ve been in direct contact with someone suspected of having the disease. Those patients are asked to instead call 205-934-9999 for guidance.
COVID-19 symptoms include fever, runny nose, dry cough, shortness of breath, fatigue and body aches.
Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced the establishment of a COVID-19 task force. The group is comprised of state officials and disease specialists which will make recommendations to the governor.
Two students at Jacksonville State University were recently exposed to coronavirus in Georgia, school officials announced Friday. Health officials and administrators at JSU are monitoring the situation closely. The students show no symptoms.
Here are a few links containing updates and information on how to prevent the spread of coronavirus:
- www.UABnews/coronavirus
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/home/index.html
A proposed Bessemer data center faces new hurdles: a ‘road to nowhere’ and the Birmingham darter
With the City Council in Bessemer scheduled to vote Tuesday on a “hyperscale” data center, challenges from an environmental group and the Alabama Department of Transportation present potential obstacles for the wildly unpopular project.
Birmingham Museum of Art’s silver exhibit tells a dazzling global story
Silver and Ceremony is made up of more than 150 suites of silver, sourced from India, and some of their designs.
Mentally ill people are stuck in jail because they can’t get treatment. Here’s what’s to know
Hundreds of people across Alabama await a spot in the state’s increasingly limited facilities, despite a consent decree requiring the state to address delays in providing care for people who are charged with crimes but deemed too mentally ill to stand trial. But seven years since the federal agreement, the problem has only worsened.
Ivey appoints Will Parker to Alabama Supreme Court
Parker fills the court seat vacated by Bill Lewis who was tapped by President Donald Trump for a federal judgeship. The U.S. Senate last month confirmed Lewis as a U.S. district judge.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
