Health

Over the last week, the number of COVID-19 cases in the state of Alabama grew faster than 43 other states and the District of Columbia. Only seven states saw their total confirmed cases increase more rapidly than Alabama, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project. The number of positive cases confirmed by lab tests … Continued

The University of Alabama at Birmingham is putting six labs to work testing a potential vaccine for COVID-19, the university announced Monday.  Scientists at UAB will be conducting preclinical testing on mice of Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Altimmune’s vaccine called AdCOVID. Once that testing is complete the company could begin testing on humans later this year, according … Continued

More and more of Alabama’s brainpower is being redirected into fighting the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Dr. Jerome Baudry is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Dr. Baudry and his lab are involved in a project that is using the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Summit … Continued

The number of patients who have died from COVID-19 at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika since Friday has increased to six, the hospital said in a statement Sunday. Four of the patients were from Chambers County and two were from Lee County. The Alabama Department of Public Health is still investigating the deaths and … Continued

Nursing homes in Alabama care for the most vulnerable to serious complications and death from COVID-19, and by Saturday there were at least eight confirmed cases in six homes across the state.  It came as no surprise when confirmed cases started coming in, said John Matson, director of communications at the Alabama Nursing Home Association, … Continued

UPDATE: East Alabama Medical Center said Sunday that its death toll has increased to six. [visual-link-preview encoded=”eyJ0eXBlIjoiaW50ZXJuYWwiLCJwb3N0Ijo4NDk2MywicG9zdF9sYWJlbCI6IlBvc3QgODQ5NjMgLSBEZWF0aCB0b2xsIGF0IEVhc3QgQWxhYmFtYSBNZWRpY2FsIENlbnRlciBpbiBPcGVsaWthIGluY3JlYXNlcyB0byA2IiwidXJsIjoiIiwiaW1hZ2VfaWQiOjg0MTA4LCJpbWFnZV91cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5hbHJlcG9ydGVyLmNvbS93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvMjAyMC8wMy9BZG9iZVN0b2NrXzMyNzE0OTU1Mi1zY2FsZWQtZTE1ODQ3MDgyMTkxOTEtMTAwMHg2MDAuanBlZyIsInRpdGxlIjoiRGVhdGggdG9sbCBhdCBFYXN0IEFsYWJhbWEgTWVkaWNhbCBDZW50ZXIgaW5jcmVhc2VzIHRvIDYiLCJzdW1tYXJ5IjoiVGhlIG51bWJlciBvZiBwYXRpZW50cyB3aG8gaGF2ZSBkaWVkIGZyb20gQ09WSUQtMTkgYXQgRWFzdCBBbGFiYW1hIE1lZGljYWwgQ2VudGVyIGluIE9wZWxpa2Egc2luY2UgRnJpZGF5IGhhcyBpbmNyZWFzZWQgdG8gc2l4LCB0aGUgaG9zcGl0YWwgc2FpZCBpbiBhIHN0YXRlbWVudCBTdW5kYXkuIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJ1c2VfZGVmYXVsdF9mcm9tX3NldHRpbmdzIn0=”] Five patients who were being treated for COVID-19 at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, Alabama, have died since Friday, the hospital said in a statement Saturday. “Our hospital family expresses its collective condolences to the families of … Continued

Lee County, home to Auburn University, is one of Alabama’s hardest-hit counties. Lab-confirmed cases of the coronavirus continue to rise there, and the county’s largest hospital is seeing a spike in hospitalizations. East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika has 20 patients hospitalized with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. There are 21 more hospitalized patients, whom … Continued

For the past five days, Pamela Franco hasn’t seen her fiancé except over FaceTime. She’s at UAB’s University Hospital on one of the floors set aside for those infected with the novel coronavirus. Franco’s room is a typical hospital room, which she isn’t allowed to leave. The exercise she gets is from walking around that … Continued

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed on Friday ordered a curfew for Alabama’s capital city, which went into effect immediately and will be in place “indefinitely” as city officials try to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  The curfew will be in effect from 10 p.m until 5.am. each day  “We’re doing this as a measure … Continued