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Montgomery mayor issues order mandating face masks in public

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed announced an executive order Wednesday mandating the wearing of face masks in the city, a day after the City Council vote on the requirement failed in a 4-4 tie. Reed said that after listening to warnings from health experts, he decided that the rule was necessary. Montgomery has seen rising hospitalizations … Continued

Micah Danney

June 17, 2020

States must act to secure safe elections amid COVID-19 crisis, report finds

The spread of COVID-19 continues filling up intensive care beds and breaking records nearly daily, and as elections in Alabama near, the need to protect the state’s voting system is even more critical, according to a recent study. The Brennan Center for Justice, a law and public policy institute at the New York University Law … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

June 17, 2020

Report: Medicaid expansion needed during COVID-19 crisis

More than 340,000 Alabamians are suffering because the state hasn’t expanded Medicaid, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to do so is all the more critical, according to a report released Wednesday. The Montgomery-based nonprofit Alabama Arise’s report, Medicaid Matters: Charting the Course to a Healthier Alabama, details how an expansion of the federal … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

June 17, 2020

ICU bed use, COVID-19 hospitalizations reach new highs in Alabama

Since the first case of COVID-19 arrived in Alabama in March, Dr. Donald Williamson, the president of the Alabama Hospital Association, has said he’s confident the state’s hospitals can handle an influx of coronavirus patients. That changed Tuesday morning, when the state recorded the most COVID-19 patients ever being cared for across the state and, … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

June 16, 2020

Auburn students who attended gatherings, bar worker test positive for COVID-19

Twenty-four Auburn University students and a worker at an Auburn bar have all tested positive for COVID-19, a sign that social gatherings and the state’s loosening of restrictions is resulting in a spike of cases there, according to local health experts. The 24 Auburn students who tested positive for the virus had been to birthday … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

June 15, 2020

Fourth Alabama inmate dies with COVID-19, 13 others from same prison test positive

A fourth person serving in an Alabama prison has died after testing positive for COVID-19, and 13 other inmates housed in an infirmary with the man have also since tested positive for the virus, the Alabama Department of Corrections announced Monday. Robert Stewart, 80, who was serving at Staton Correctional Facility died at a local … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

June 15, 2020

Alabama’s surge in COVID-19 cases troubling, UAB doctors say

Alabama’s surge in COVID-19 cases is stressing hospitals and, if the rise in cases continues, could put all patients in jeopardy, doctors at UAB Hospital said on Monday. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of UAB’s infectious diseases division, said during a press briefing Monday that the state continues to see record-breaking numbers of new coronavirus cases. … Continued

Eddie Burkhalter

June 15, 2020

“We can’t handle much more”: Doctors sound alarm as COVID-19 surges in Alabama

Some 7,283 cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Alabama since June 1, or about 29 percent of the state’s total confirmed case count, and while many of those who’ve tested positive may not be sick enough to be hospitalized, a doctor treating the sickest COVID-19 patients in Montgomery says he’s not sure how … Continued

Chip Brownlee

June 14, 2020

For first time, Alabama reports more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day

For the first time, Alabama has reported an increase of more than 1,000 cases of coronavirus in a single-day, according to data from the Alabama Department of Public Health. The total number of coronavirus cases in Alabama jumped by 1,014 on Sunday morning. The previous highs were increases of 888 cases on Saturday, 859 cases … Continued

Chip Brownlee

June 14, 2020

Alabama reports third day of record-setting COVID-19 numbers

Alabama’s COVID-19 case count continues to surge as the Department of Public Health on Saturday, for the third day in a row, reported more than 800 new cases of coronavirus. The total number of coronavirus cases in Alabama since the pandemic began jumped to 24,221 on Saturday, an increase of 888 cases to the cumulative … Continued

Chip Brownlee

June 13, 2020