For the first time since the first omicron wave receded, Alabama’s hospitals reported more than 500 COVID-19 inpatients this week.
COVID is making a comeback in Alabama.
And the steady increase in hospitalizations seems poised to continue, at least as long as the state’s positivity rate keeps going up, according to Dr. Donald Williamson, head of the Alabama Hospital Association. “There are two reasons, if I tested positive, that I would feel the need for my number to get into the system,” he said. “One was if I was so sick, I needed to go to the hospital. And the other was if I went to get another test so I could get Paxlovid.”But while the overall positivity rate and case rate numbers are less important than they used to be, the trends are still vital to watch - and almost everything in Alabama is trending up, from cases to positivity rate to hospitalizations.
Less severe disease is a good thing, and is reflected in the only COVID metric that isn’t showing signs of increase in recent months - deaths. Williamson said the state’s hospitals aren’t seeing a big increase in deaths in the last few weeks.Boosters, masks back on the menu Of the 350-plus hospital patients the Hospital Association had data on this week, roughly 53% were vaccinated. That’s about in line with the percentage of Alabama’s population that’s fully vaccinated. But only 16% of those hospitalized with COVID had gotten a booster shot, or around 30% of vaccinated hospital patients.
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