Health officer: Face mask requirement may be needed indoors
Cases of COVID-19 are rising exponentially in Alabama’s largest metro area because a new, highly contagious variant is spreading among the unvaccinated, and public places should consider a return to requiring face masks, the head of the area health department said Thursday. Dr. Mark Wilson, the health officer for Jefferson County, said studies have shown that the delta variant that’s taken hold in Alabama can spread between people in less than a minute, so any indoor area where people gather might need a face mask requirement or at least a strong recommendation that people wear them. The seven-day rolling average for new cases of COVID-19 has risen eightfold from 13 to 107 a day, he said, and additional new cases and more deaths linked to the pandemic are inevitable, she said. “The tragic thing is that almost all of these deaths will have been prevented if only those people had been vaccinated,” Wilson said. The problem isn’t isolated to Jefferson County: Only eight of Alabama’s 67 counties aren’t considered at high risk for the illness caused by the coronavirus, and roughly 50 more patients a day are being admitted to state hospitals with COVID-19, which already has killed more than 11,460 people in Alabama. With only 31% of the population fully vaccinated and nearly all the new, most serious cases among people who aren’t inoculated, Wilson said the state’s vaccination rate is “way, way below” what is needed to control the pandemic. Gov. Kay Ivey told reporters Thursday the blame for the new surge in cases is with people who refuse to get vaccinated. “The few cases of COVID are because of unvaccinated folks. Almost 100% of the new hospitalizations are unvaccinated folks. And the deaths certainly are occurring with unvaccinated folks. These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain. We’ve got to get folks to take the shot,” Ivey said during an appearance in Birmingham. The governor said she doesn’t like another mask mandate, but she also doesn’t know how to convince more people to get their COVID-19 shots. “Get a shot in your arm. I’ve done it. It’s safe. The data proves it. It doesn’t cost anything. It saves lives,” Ivey said. Cases have surged since the July 4 holiday, which officials feared would lead to new outbreaks, Dr. Scott Harris, the head of the Alabama Department of Public Health, said in a video update released by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. “Right now we are seeing some pretty difficult times here in Alabama,” Harris said. Some of the infections are occurring after the type of large gatherings that generally didn’t occur until the state lifted health restrictions. Dr. David Thrasher, who practices in Montgomery, said a doctor friend told him about a church in the Birmingham suburb of Trussville that recently held a large celebration for its 200th anniversary which was followed by a massive disease outbreak. “Seventy people in that congregation have tested positive,” he said. Thrasher said a friend of his died recently and two people who attended the funeral became infected even though they were vaccinated. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by 772, a spike of 280%, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University. There were about 226 new cases per 100,000 people in Alabama over the past two weeks, which ranks ninth in the country. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
‘We messed up’: Ex-state senator warns of virus before death
Before his death from COVID-19 former Alabama state senator, Larry Dixon spoke to his wife of 53 years from his hospital bed and asked her to relay a warning. “Sweetheart, we messed up. We just dropped our guard,” Dr. David Thrasher, a pulmonologist and friend of Dixon’s, recalled him saying. Dixon, 78, died Friday from complications of COVID-19. Thrasher said his longtime friend had been mostly careful but may have contracted the virus after gathering with friends. “Larry has been conscientious with masks, doing everything right, social distancing since March… He made one slip up,” Thrasher said. Dixon met with friends at a local restaurant to catch up, and smoke cigars, a social gathering the friends referred to as “prayer meeting.” Three people at the gathering became ill, Thrasher said. “The last thing he told her was, ’Gaynell, I love you. We’ve got to tell people this is real,” Thrasher said. Thrasher said he is telling his friend’s story with the family’s permission in the hopes that people can learn just how easily the virus can spread at casual gatherings. He said it is also important to seek medical care when they first get sick. Alabama and much of the country is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases following Thanksgiving gatherings. The state in the last two weeks has set records for the number of cases reported each day and the number of people in state hospitals with COVID-19. The state health department has reported more than 276,000 confirmed and probable virus cases and at least 3,942 confirmed and probable virus deaths in Alabama. While the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms in most people, it can be deadly for the elderly and people with other serious health problems. The hope generated by the imminent arrival of the vaccine is tempered by what medical officials fear will be unchecked spread before it becomes widely available. “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I can also see the locomotive coming at me,” Thrasher said. “The next four months are going to see more devastation and catastrophic problems with public health than we’ve seen probably since 1918. It is going to be very, very bad.” Dixon was the executive director of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners from 1981 until his retirement in 2016. A Republican, Dixon was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1978 and the Alabama Senate in 1983. He retired from the Alabama Legislature in 2010. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Hospitals raise concern over rise in Montgomery virus cases
Montgomery County, with 2,100 cases, now has the second highest number of virus cases in the state, second only to Mobile.
