UAB Expert: Alabama Could See ‘Tidal Wave’ Of Coronavirus Cases This Month
UAB health experts are expecting a surge in the number of new coronavirus cases in the coming weeks. Alabama hit 1,785 hospitalizations Tuesday, a new record that marks the most since August.
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, head of UAB’s infectious diseases division, said she expects numbers to rise over the coming weeks because of Thanksgiving gatherings.
“This is a time when we need to start thinking of things like ‘tidal wave’ imagery. Tsunami imagery. We really are very, very concerned,” Marrazzo said. “Of course, the fear is that we have this constant level of surge, we have this spike right now, and we could really be in a situation in two to three weeks that comprises our ability to provide healthcare.”
The positivity rate in Alabama is up to 20%. At the same time, testing rates are down compared to previous months, according to Marrazzo. The number of available intensive care unit beds statewide is dwindling.
“If you look at some of the models that forecast what’s going to happen in three weeks after Thanksgiving and you superimpose it on the numbers we’re seeing now, you could conceivably see a true need for setting up ancillary care places,” Marrazzo said.
Vaccine Rollout Prioritizes Health Care Workers
Alabama is expected to receive 40,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in an initial shipment.
“Allocations can change,” Dr. Karen Landers with the Alabama Department of Public Health told WBHM in an email.
Additional vaccines will be shipped to Alabama depending on allocation models, supply, and whether other vaccines are granted Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Frontline health care workers and some first responders top the priority list for early doses, according to the ADPH’s Vaccination Allocation Plan. But there have been questions about whether nursing home residents and staff should also get priority.
“These are two-dose vaccines, so everything you see you’ve got to divide by two if you’re talking about fully immunizing people. Because a single dose, we hope, confers some protection, but we don’t think it’s enough,” Marrazzo said.
She said Alabama will likely receive the vaccines in January. Alabama was previously slated to receive the vaccine in December.
Editor’s Note: UAB holds WBHM’s broadcast license, but our news and business departments operate independently.
In Birmingham, Black men’s groups work to save young men from the cycle of gun violence
As the city inches closer to its homicide record, community members are trying to address a sense of fatalism and lack of opportunity felt by some young men.
How do you solve a crime at a retirement home? Get ‘A Man on the Inside’
Michael Schur wrote for the The Office and created The Good Place. His new show for Netflix features Ted Danson as a widowed retiree who goes undercover in a retirement community.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who took aim at crypto industry, to step down in January
Gensler said he would step down on Jan. 20, when Donald Trump will inaugurated as the next president. Gensler took big enforcement actions against the crypto industry.
Russia launched an experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, the U.S. says
Ukraine raised alarm suggesting Russia may have used an intercontinental ballistic missile to hit the city of Dnipro, but the U.S. National Security Council does not believe it was an ICBM.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdraws as Trump’s attorney general nominee
Allegations of sex trafficking and drug use had stirred controversy over Matt Gaetz's nomination as attorney general.
This year’s FAFSA is officially open. Early review says it’s ‘a piece of cake’
The FAFSA form is now open to students hoping to get help paying for college in the 2025-26 academic year. Students can expect a much smoother process compared to the last cycle.
