From The Tribune Staff Reports
MONTGOMERY — According to the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), COVID-19 continues to infect persons in Alabama, with the Delta variant being the predominant strain. Given that recent cases, percent positive tests, and hospitalizations are decreasing, Alabamians may feel that the worst is behind us. However, the potential for this virus to cause infection, disease, and death remains high.
“ADPH is glad that more persons are being vaccinated, with Alabama now having about half of those eligible for vaccine receiving at least one dose of vaHowever, increasingreasing vaccine rates remains critical to reducing cases of COVID-19,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said.
Alabama has had many COVID-19 cases, so some people have acquired some natural immunity; however, natural immunity duration is unknown and may vary from person to person. So, it is essential for those who have had COVID-19 to be vaccinated after their isolation period ends or, if treated with monoclonal antibodies, after 90 days.
While it is always tempting to relax preventive measures, such as masks, when case numbers look better, Alabama needs to be in the low transmission range before backing off preventive measures. Currently, 64 of Alabama’s 67 counties are in the high transmission range.
To help understand how community transmission rates are calculated, see the chart below. The overall level of community transmission is based on the number of new cases in the past seven days per 100,000 population and the percent of tests in the past seven days that have a positive result.
The higher level is selected if the two indicators – number of cases per 100,000 persons and percent positive tests – suggest different transmission levels for a county. Community transmission rates for each county are provided on Alabama’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard at arcg.is/1uKqbC
Numbers of Cases Per 100,000 Persons | % Positive Tests | |
High Transmission | More than 100 persons | 10% or more |
Substantial Transmission | More than 50-99 persons | 8% to 9.9% |
Moderate Transmission | More than 10-49 persons | 5% to 7.9% |
Low Transmission | 0-9 persons | Less than 5% |
COVID-19information is available at https://www.