Alabama sees largest increase in new COVID-19 cases so far this week
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — Alabama had its biggest single day increase in COVID-19 cases this week.
Monday, 639 new cases were confirmed by Alabama Department of Public Health.
Dr. Rachael Lee, UAB Hospital epidemiologist, says Alabama’s new surge of cases is based on several factors.
One is increased testing, showing how prevalent the virus is still spreading.
“If you look over the last seven days in Alabama, we’ve had consistently the same number of testing throughout the state,” said Lee. “So, I think we can safely say while we’ve increased across the board, it’s remained steady for the past seven days. So this increase we’re seeing is concerning to me.”
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She says people’s actions are another factor.
“Part of that may be relaxing some restrictions,” said Lee. “Part of it may be not wearing masks in public, or having more larger events, which is what we’d be concerned about for Memorial Day weekend.”
Is this the beginning of a new wave?
“Initially, we were going down and now we’re coming back up, so is that the same wave as before or is that the second wave that came very close to the first one?” questioned Lee.
She stresses the need for people to wear masks in all public places.
“My concern for after Memorial Day weekend, where we’ve had looser restrictions, is that we’ll continue to see a rise in cases,” said Lee. “And if we’re not careful that can overrun our healthcare system.”
Right now, she says UAB Hospital is treating approximately 60 patients with COVID-19.
Lee says the public's actions now will help determine the need for future restrictions.
Some Alabamians continue to take the threat of COVID-19 seriously, like Brian Hurst and his family.
“As a family we are still taking a lot of precautions,” explained Hurst. “We’re going to see how it reacts over the next month.”
Others say they still haven’t changed their behaviors.
“I ain’t changed nothing,” said Tyree Moore. “I never believed it was a true pandemic.”
