Confirmed coronavirus cases in Alabama reach 700 Saturday evening

Confirmed coronavirus cases in Alabama reached 702 by 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, an increase of 100 cases in 24 hours.

Five people who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus have died since Friday morning, according to a press release from the East Alabama Medical Center.

More: 5 die from coronavirus complications in less than 48 hours at Lee County hospital

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.

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. Less than 150 cases were confirmed as of Monday morning.

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.

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.

In Lee County, which is charting its own significant outbreak, 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.

As cases soared this week, public life in Alabama further ground to a halt as civic leaders attempt to slow the spread of infection. Experts say social distancing and isolation is one of the few tools available to slow infection rates and prevent hospitals and medical staff from becoming overwhelmed.

At 5 p.m. on Saturday, large swaths of businesses deemed "non-essential" were forced to close for at least three weeks.

Gov. Kay Ivey's Friday order covers entertainment venues, athletic events, non-essential “close-contact” service establishments, and non-essential retail stores.

Ivey balked at issuing a "stay at home" or "shelter in place" order as seem in other states, saying Friday government could "choke" business if not careful. But some mayors and local leaders have take steps beyond the governor's, issuing city-wide curfews and business closures.

In Tuscaloosa, Mayor Walt Maddox issued a 24-hour curfew, a de facto shelter in place allowing citizens to leave their homes only for things like food, medical care and socially distanced exercise.

Hours after Ivey's order on Friday, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed announced a nightly curfew to run "indefinitely." On Saturday, Prattville announced it would begin enforcing a nightly curfew for minors. The Prattville ordinance had long been on the books but had not recently been enforced.

Confirmed coronavirus cases by Alabama county

Autauga (6)

Baldwin (10)

Blount (5)

Bullock (3)

Butler (1)

Calhoun (3)

Chambers (17)

Cherokee (1)

Chilton (7)

Choctaw (1)

Clay (2)

Cleburne (4)

Colbert (1)

Coosa (2)

Covington (2)

Crenshaw (1)

Cullman (7)

Dallas (2)

DeKalb (4)

Elmore (13)

Escambia (1)

Etowah (6)

Franklin (3)

Greene (3)

Houston (4)

Jackson (5)

Jefferson (196)

Lamar (1)

Lauderdale (13)

Lawrence (3)

Lee (56)

Limestone (16)

Lowndes (1)

Madison (62)

Marengo (3)

Marion (9)

Marshall (4)

Mobile (34)

Monroe (1)

Montgomery (18)

Morgan (15)

Pickens (1)

Pike (4)

Randolph (2)

Russell (1)

St. Clair (10)

Shelby (72)

Talladega (4)

Tallapoosa (5)

Tuscaloosa (23)

Walker (28)

Washington (2)

Wilcox (2)

Winston (2)

Coronavirus in Alabama 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.)

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Melissa Brown at 334-240-0132 or mabrown@gannett.com.