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Alabama may need 2,500 more ventilators. It’s having to compete to get them

Alabama may need 2,000 more ventilators than it has, and it’s being forced to compete with other states to get them on the private market. State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Friday that the Alabama Department of Public Health is attempting to source its own ventilators as a number of hospitals in the state … Continued
April 3, 2020

Gov. Kay Ivey orders Alabama to stay at home as cases near 1,500

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is issuing a stay-at-home order, reversing course after two weeks of saying the state didn’t need one. “I can’t say this any more clearly,” Ivey said. “COVID-19 is an imminent threat to our way of life. And you need to understand that we have passed urging people to stay at home. … Continued
April 3, 2020

Alabama hospitals facing “dire” equipment shortages

Every morning the team at UAB Hospital gets a report on the number of patients who come into the hospital infected with COVID-19 and their status. Then the doctors and other health care professions on the team receive an update on the number of days they have left before their supply of personal protective equipment … Continued
April 2, 2020

Gov. Ivey OKs release of some parole violators in jails

Gov. Kay Ivey is allowing the release of some alleged probation and parole violators in the custody of jails across the state. She’s also issued a number of new directives to free up health care resources. The measures are intended to slow the transmission of COVID-19 and prepare for a rise in hospitalizations. In a … Continued
April 2, 2020

Alabama Dept. of Corrections has tested 17 inmates for COVID-19

The Alabama Department of Corrections has tested 17 inmates in nine of the state’s prisons for the novel coronavirus. All tests so far have been negative. Five more inmates have been tested, but their results are pending. ADOC began publishing test data on its website Thursday. It says it will update the information twice a … Continued
April 2, 2020

Alabama municipalities may be left out of $2 trillion stimulus package

As the largest economic stimulus in American history flows to states and municipalities around the nation, stipulations in the two-trillion dollar emergency fund may leave Alabama cities out altogether. As enacted, the third stimulus bill, the CARE Act, directs funding for states, and local governments, the catch is that the act only allocates funds for … Continued
April 2, 2020

More than 80,000 joined the unemployment rolls in Alabama last week

More than 80,000 people filed a jobless claim to receive unemployment compensation last week, the Alabama Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Labor say. That number is about eight times the number of claims filed the week before when layoffs began hitting the state. Alabama Department of Labor spokesperson Tara Hutchison said Monday … Continued
April 2, 2020

UAB launches symptom tracker to identify COVID-19 hot spots in Deep South

To better track COVID-19 cases, experts from the University of Alabama at Birmingham have created a symptom checker to identify hot spots where the virus is spreading.  The new website, called HelpBeatCOVID19.org, will provide public health officials insight into underserved areas based on the symptomatic data collected from the region and could help inform and … Continued
April 1, 2020