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Alabama hospitals begin to see significant spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations

Alabama hospitals are already beginning to see a sharp increase in hospitalizations related to the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 as the number of confirmed cases accelerates in the state. Data gathered over the last 24 hours by the Alabama Political Reporter show that more than 100 people are hospitalized statewide with a confirmed diagnosis … Continued
March 25, 2020

Alabama is going to need more ventilators. It seems to have no plan

It has been less than two weeks since Alabama reported its first positive case of the new novel coronavirus. Since then, the number has jumped to 242 positive cases. There are sure to be more. Several hospitals across the state, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health, are already nearing their capacity. At any … Continued
March 24, 2020

Alabama scientists are trying to help find treatments for COVID-19

The Alabama Department of Commerce announced Tuesday that a number of Alabama firms, research institutions and scientists have been mobilized in the international effort to fight the novel coronavirus, which has killed over ten thousand people this year. Huntsville’s Diatherix announced that it has developed a highly sensitive and specific assay, or test, for the … Continued
March 20, 2020

The tumbleweed effect

It’s a Wednesday in March, and I’m standing on a sidewalk between the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center and Spencer Honors House at UAB. Nobody is in sight. Not one person. I almost expect a tumbleweed to bounce past my feet and head across the empty green toward the decrepit Humanities Building. Yes, it’s Spring … Continued
March 20, 2020

SEC orders schools to cancel spring football games

Auburn Athletics Director Allen Greene announced Tuesday that Auburn University has had to cancel it’s annual A-Day football scrimmage after the SEC ordered all spring athletic activities shut down. This includes not only spring football games, but also pro-days, and spring football. “I love living in Auburn. Christy and I always enjoy having the kids … Continued
March 18, 2020

Coronavirus will stretch Alabama hospitals and healthcare facilities to the breaking point

With cases of the coronavirus now being reported in Alabama, healthcare – especially in rural parts of our state – has become more important than ever. Several years ago, our state had the opportunity to expand Medicaid at almost no new cost to Alabama taxpayers. The federal government would have funded over 90 percent of … Continued
March 17, 2020

Coronavirus testing still lagging in Alabama, expert says

Testing for COVID-19 in Alabama remains slow, due in part to inadequate capacity in the state’s lab to run the tests, and it’s a problem mirrored across the country, says an infectious disease expert in Birmingham.  Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, head of infectious diseases at University of Alabama at Birmingham, said during a press conference Monday … Continued
March 16, 2020

Closure of rural hospitals places Alabama at disadvantage in COVID fight

Whether Alabama’s health care system will be able to handle the coronavirus pandemic will depend on its people. The infectious disease specialist leading the UAB Medicine’s response to the coronavirus outbreak urged Alabamians to take social-distancing measures seriously to blunt the exponential growth of coronavirus cases in the state so as to not overload health … Continued
March 16, 2020

Shelby: Administration is “lowballing” the cost of the coronavirus

Tuesday, the Trump Administration asked the Congress for an additional $2.5 billion for planning for a possible coronavirus outbreak in the United States. U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) accused the administration of “lowballing” the actual cost. Shelby is the Chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. “It seems to me at the outset that this … Continued
February 26, 2020

Facts are stubborn things

I’m in my 20th year of teaching in the English Department at UAB. I’ve never taught my primary discipline, journalism, and I really don’t have much of a desire to, either. Yet, in 2017, the leadership of UAB’s University Honors Program asked me to be a part of their interdisciplinary faculty for the fall. UHP’s … Continued
February 13, 2020