Alabama's positivity rate reaches 42.3 percent as cases surge [View all]

The positivity rate in Alabama — the percentage of COVID tests that are positive — reached a record-breaking 42.3 percent on Thursday as the more contagious omicron variant explodes across the U.S.

COVID hospitalizations in the state continue to climb as well, and new cases continue to hit record numbers as school children, largely unvaccinated, return to class this week.

While the omicron variant causes less severe illness in some, public health experts say people with other medical conditions are at greater risk of serious illness or death, and the explosive, record-setting number of new cases being seen in Alabama is driving COVID hospitalizations skyward at a rapid pace.

There were 329 COVID patients hospitalized in Alabama on Dec. 1, and by Thursday, that had increased by 343 percent, to 1,459. Alabama’s ICU beds were at 90 percent capacity on Thursday, with 18.4 percent of those taken up by COVID patients, although some hospitals didn’t report that data, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Read more: https://www.alreporter.com/2022/01/07/alabamas-positivity-rate-reaches-42-3-percent-as-cases-surge/
(Alabama Political Reporter)