Alabama Sees ‘Unprecedented’ Surge In COVID-19 Hospitalizations
On Tuesday afternoon, Alabama hospitals were caring for more than 1,000 in-patients with COVID-19, up from about 200 at the beginning of July.
“We are still far below the peak that we saw in December and January … although I will tell you the slope of this increase, the rate at which the hospitalization numbers are going up, is unprecedented in Alabama,” said State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris during a media call Tuesday.
“This has shot up really, really quickly, which is very concerning to us.”
Harris said the surge is linked to the more contagious delta variant, coupled with Alabama’s low vaccination rate. The state is currently last in the nation, with about 32% of residents fully vaccinated.
Harris said health officials are desperately trying to increase that number.
“We are pushing every button and pulling every lever we can, but what works for some, doesn’t work for others,” Harris said. “It’s just difficult to reach some people.”
Some local groups have offered cash incentives and other perks to encourage vaccinations. Harris said that doesn’t work for everyone.
“We’re certainly not opposed to incentives at all,” he said. “However, I don’t know of an incentive program that’s been wildly successful anywhere.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has pushed back against the idea of incentivizing vaccinations.
“There are those who believe that government should mandate the vaccine or that we should bribe people to take it,” Ivey wrote in an op-ed published Tuesday in the Washington Post. “That’s not going to happen in my state, no matter how many times the media ask me.”
As COVID cases increase across the country, many health experts are calling for a return to universal mask-wearing, even among those who are fully vaccinated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its guidance Tuesday, stating that some fully vaccinated people should wear masks indoors if they live in areas with significant viral spread. The agency also recommended all teachers, staff and students of K-12 schools wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.
This week, Huntsville City Schools and Birmingham City Schools announced mask mandates for the beginning of the 2021 academic year.
Harris said the Alabama Department of Public Health is following CDC guidance and encourages mask-wearing, but a statewide mask requirement is unlikely.
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.
Former Brazilian president indicted over alleged coup plot
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro and several others have been charged with attempting to overthrow incoming government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022.
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.
