Alabama coronavirus update: Case count rises to 767 day after hospital announces 5 deaths

Alabama’s confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 767 by 11:40 a.m. Sunday, a day after an Opelika hospital reported five deaths at its facility in less than 36 hours.

The Alabama Department of Public Health recognizes four deaths in Alabama related to COVID-19, although there have been nine reported deaths through hospitals, the state and local health departments statewide.

Of the five people who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus that died since Friday morning at East Alabama Medical Center, three patients were from Chambers County and two were from Lee County.

The deaths more than double Alabama's previous coronavirus fatality count. Three deaths were reported earlier this week by the Alabama Department of Public Health in Lauderdale, Jackson and Madison counties. A fourth was reported by the Mobile County Department of Public Health, though it is not yet included in ADPH's official count. ADPH overnight recognized a death from coronavirus in Chambers County. It’s unclear if it is one of the people who died at EAMC.

The state health department has yet to release ages of victims or concrete hospitalization numbers, though some hospitals around the state have begun issuing their own and pleas for supplies.

Though Alabama was one of the last states in the United States to confirm a case of coronavirus amid testing concerns, the state has seen an exponential rise in the past week. Confirmed cases increased 116, or 19% since Saturday morning. Since Monday, confirmed cases skyrocketed 359%.

All but 13 Alabama counties confirmed at least one positive case. Apart from Fayette County in northwest Alabama, all other remaining counties were located in the rural Black Belt and Wiregrass regions of the state.

In Jefferson County, the state's largest hot spot, at least 55 people were hospitalized as of Friday night, according to UAB Hospital. More than half of its patients were on ventilators to help them breathe as of Wednesday, UAB said. Jefferson County has 215 confirmed cases of the virus.

In Lee County, which is charting its own significant outbreak with 59 confirmed COVID-19 patients, at least 20 people were hospitalized with confirmed cases, and another 21 hospitalized under investigation for coronavirus.

In Montgomery, Baptist Health said it had treated eight total patients for coronavirus but six of those have since been released. On Sunday, there were 20 confirmed cases, according to the ADPH website.

Gov. Kay Ivey shut down nonessential businesses statewide at 5 p.m. Saturday, the latest preventative measure to reduce the spread of COVID-19. She urged Alabamians to stay at home as much as possible while announcing entertainment venues, athletic events, non-essential “close-contact” service establishments and non-essential retail stores will be shuttered.

Meanwhile, the city of Montgomery announced a nightly curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. People are required to remain in their homes unless there is a safety emergency. All travel on foot, bicycle, vehicles, motorcycle or public transit will be prohibited.

Hospitals across the state have expressed concern about the capacity of the state’s health system to support treatment of the global pandemic. Many doctors have stressed Alabamians to stay home regardless of a governor’s order demanding it or not.

Confirmed cases nationwide neared 124,600 Sunday morning — the highest total in the world — and the U.S. has more than 2,190 deaths related to the virus.

Confirmed coronavirus cases by Alabama county

Autauga (6)

Baldwin (14)

Blount (5)

Bullock (3)

Butler (1)

Calhoun (3)

Chambers (24)

Cherokee (2)

Chilton (7)

Choctaw (1)

Clay (2)

Cleburne (4)

Colbert (2)

Coosa (2)

Covington (2)

Crenshaw (1)

Cullman (7)

Dallas (2)

DeKalb (4)

Elmore (13)

Escambia (1)

Etowah (6)

Franklin (3)

Greene (3)

Houston (5)

Jackson (5)

Jefferson (215)

Lamar (1)

Lauderdale (12)

Lawrence (3)

Lee (59)

Limestone (16)

Lowndes (1)

Madison (73)

Marengo (4)

Marion (9)

Marshall (4)

Mobile (39)

Monroe (1)

Montgomery (20)

Morgan (17)

Pickens (2)

Pike (4)

Randolph (2)

Russell (1)

St. Clair (12)

Shelby (73)

Talladega (4)

Tallapoosa (8)

Tuscaloosa (23)

Walker (29)

Washington (3)

Wilcox (2)

Winston (2)

Alabama coronavirus cases map

Our Data Central page includes an interactive map that tracks confirmed COVID-19 cases, recoveries, and deaths from around the state, nation, and world.

The map is updated automatically and shows a closeup of each [state] county.

Or, zoom out to see numbers from around the nation and the world.

(Not seeing the map? Click here to get to our interactive Data Central page.)