Forty-seven of Alabama’s 67 counties are now considered to be at “very high risk” for the spread of COVID-19, according to the latest figures from the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Bibb, Bullock, Coosa, Escambia, Jackson, Lamar, Perry, Pickens and Sumter are the only Alabama counties in the low-risk category, meaning they have had a downward case trajectory of 14 or more days or have a rate of 10 cases or less over the previous two weeks.
Choctaw, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Greene and Russell were all ranked as “moderate risk” and Conecuh, Fayette, Lowndes, Wilcox and Winston were all “high risk.” The remainding counties are classified as “very high risk.”
Risk categories are determined primarily by the number of new COVID cases per day. Counties considered “very high risk” are where the number of cases is staying the same or increasing. Counties with decreasing counts for 1-6 days are in the high-risk category and a decline of 7-13 days is considered “moderate.”
Variants in Alabama
Variants of COVID continue to circulate in Alabama, the state with the lowest vaccination rate in the country. Alabama has had 820 Alpha variants, 2 Beta, 31 Gamma and 56 Delta, a highly contagious form of coronavirus expected to become the dominant strain in the U.S.
“These variants are more transmissible, specifically the Alpha and the Delta, and some variants have less response to treatments such as monoclonal antibodies,” ADPH said.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID cases reported in Alabama has jumped 39% from June 26 to July 9 with the rate of positive tests – 7.7% – the highest since February.
As of July 14, 341 people were reported hospitalized in Alabama as a result of COVID, up from 179 on July 3rd.
ADPH is advising people to get vaccinated ” as quickly as possible.”
“The vaccines we have are highly effective and their benefits far outweigh any risks,” ADPH said. “Only a very small percentage of deaths due to COVID-19 are among the fully vaccinated population.”
As of July 15th, Alabama has reported 557,578 cases of COVID-19 with 11,439 deaths.