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.
U.S. stops scheduling visa interviews for foreign students
The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said.
Ex-police chief sentenced for rape and murder escaped prison disguised as prison guard
Law officers searched Arkansas' rugged Ozark Mountains for an ex-police chief and convicted killer who escaped prison by impersonating a guard and walking out through a gate a guard opened for him.
Noem urges Poles to elect Trump ally as CPAC holds its first meeting in Poland
The Conservative Political Action Conference held its first meeting in Poland on Tuesday, just days before a presidential election between a liberal mayor and a conservative backed by President Trump.
Former Sean Combs employee Capricorn Clark says he kidnapped her
On Tuesday, Clark, who worked for Combs for more than a decade, accused him of kidnapping her during a chaotic 2011 episode involving his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, and the rapper Kid Cudi.
Almost 200,000 Palestinians displaced by latest Israeli military offensive
Israel has ordered tens of thousand of Gazans to move to zone in the south
Susan Brownmiller, whose landmark book changed attitudes on rape, dies at 90
In 1975, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape explored pernicious cultural and legal attitudes about rape and helped debunk the long-held view that victims were partly to blame.
