COVID-19 in Alabama: 7-day average down in west-central counties

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WTOK) - The Alabama Department of Public Health is reporting 757,893 positive COVID-19 cases in Alabama as of Sept. 15.

The Alabama Department of Public Health is reporting 12,784 deaths related to COVID-19 in the state since the start of the pandemic. In the last 7 days, 79,907 people have been tested and 15,220 positive cases have been reported.

Here’s a snapshot of case data from west Alabama counties:

County	Total Cases	Total Deaths	7-Day % Change in Cases	7-Day % Positivity in Cases	7-Day Case Rate
Choctaw	719	25	-20	10.7	31.8
Marengo	3177	78	-42.5	22.1	222.7
Pickens	2961	66	-30.6	25.1	215.8
Sumter	1226	35	-61.1	10.6	56.3

The health department is no longer reporting presumed recoveries in Alabama. This is the statement from ADPH:

The goal in data presentation is to provide the most accurate reflection of the pandemic’s effect on the population. As part of this visualization, a number of categories were used, including defining parameters for presumed recoveries.

Early in the pandemic, persons were presumed to have recovered from COVID-19 if they had not died more than a month after their illness onset or test date. With more recent developments in this pandemic, this estimate is less accurate. A small percentage of persons may become reinfected; and such persons could be counted twice. Additionally, some people experience a variety of post-COVID conditions more than a month after initial infection, even if they were asymptomatic. Thus, it may not be appropriate to classify persons with persistent or late onset symptoms as recovered. Post-COVID conditions are not reportable to public health at this time, so ADPH does not have data for these patients.

As the category, presumed recoveries, is not reflective of current information, ADPH will remove this category from the dashboard effective 05/27/21. Additional information may be provided in the future as we gather more data on this pandemic.

As of Sept. 13, there are currently 2,474 COVID-19 patients in hospitals.

Alabama began administering the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 15 and the Moderna vaccine shortly followed. A single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine was approved by the FDA Feb. 27. As of Sept. 9, there have been 4,079,741 vaccines administered.

You can also view the ADPH dashboard by clicking here. For information about vaccinations, click here.