Alabama’s COVID Hospitalizations On Track To Surpass Winter Surge
Coronavirus hospitalizations in Alabama continue surging at an “unprecedented” rate, putting the state on track to break its previous record.
“We need Alabamians to understand that we’re in a very difficult position right now,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said. “We’re seeing case numbers again as high as we have ever seen.”
As of Thursday afternoon, hospitals were caring for 2,441 inpatients. That number will likely exceed the winter peak of 3,084 within three to four days, Harris told reporters Thursday.
With just 5% of intensive care unit beds available, Harris said that the state is considering requesting federal aid to help hospitals combat the surge and deal with staff shortages.
Alabama Department of Public Health
Graph from the Alabama Department of Public Health shows the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Meanwhile, UAB Hospital announced Thursday that starting next week, it will decrease its normal number of inpatient surgical cases by about half.
“We are in a dire circumstance right now,” Nafziger said. “UAB Hospital is not unbreakable. But we’re rapidly getting into a position where care for services that we take for granted is not going to be available if we don’t turn this thing around.”
She said that the hospital is preparing to create additional COVID units in hallways and conference rooms, if needed.
The hospital system will start declining transfer requests for specialty care and will limit visitors.
Beginning next week, visitors will not be allowed in the emergency room, except in compassionate care circumstances.
As the fourth wave of COVID infections continues, deaths are also starting to climb upwards. Harris, with the state health department, said that it’s a lagging indicator that will almost certainly get worse.
“We’ve had more than a week now of deaths in the double digits. This is a snapshot of what was happening three or four weeks ago,” Harris said.
Statewide, health officials continue to encourage residents to get vaccinated, citing that close to 90% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are not fully protected against the virus.
WBHM’s Miranda Fulmore contributed to this story.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story stated that UAB Hospital will be delaying surgeries for cancer patients and transplants. UAB officials updated their memo on 8/13/21 to clarify that these surgeries will not be delayed.
Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin
Memorial services for the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. to honor his long civil rights legacy begin in Chicago. Events will also take place in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born and began his activism.
In reversal, Warner Bros. jilts Netflix for Paramount
Warner Bros. says Paramount's sweetened bid to buy the whole company is "superior" to an $83 billion deal it struck with Netflix for just its streaming services, studios, and intellectual property.
Trump’s ballroom project can continue for now, court says
A US District Judge denied a preservation group's effort to put a pause on construction
NASA lost a lunar spacecraft one day after launch. A new report details what went wrong
Why did a $72 million mission to study water on the moon fail so soon after launch? A new NASA report has the answer.
Columbia student detained by ICE is abruptly released after Mamdani meets with Trump
Hours after the student was taken into custody in her campus apartment, she was released, after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed concerns about the arrest to President Trump.
These major issues have brought together Democrats and Republicans in states
Across the country, Republicans and Democrats have found bipartisan agreement on regulating artificial intelligence and data centers. But it's not just big tech aligning the two parties.
