Alabama Reports 800 New Virus Cases; Deaths At 610

MONTGOMERY, AL — The number of new coronavirus cases reported in Alabama Saturday spiked by more than 800 since Friday morning, marking the third straight day the state saw more than 500 new cases.

Just before 5 p.m. Saturday, the Alabama Department of Public Health had reported a total of 805 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The new cases brings the confirmed total in the state to 17,359.

Additionally, 610 people have now died from COVID-19-related illnesses, an increase of 10 people from Friday.

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Earlier this week, state health director Dr. Scott Harris said the large spike in daily cases was concerning.

"We know that ADPH and partners we work with have managed to increase the number of tests we're doing throughout the state," he said, "but that doesn't account for the case numbers that we're seeing, or certainly doesn't completely account for it."

In the last two weeks, Alabama's number of new cases each day has increased at a rate faster than 46 other states in the country, and as the state continues to reopen, this trend may get worse, Harris said.

Since testing began in mid-March, 212,201 people have been tested for the virus in Alabama. So far, 1,826 people have been hospitalized.

Jefferson County has reported 1,780 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The counties with the most cases as of Saturday evening:

• Mobile County: 2,191 confirmed cases; 20,760 total tests; 115 deaths
• Jefferson County: 1,780 confirmed cases; 38,275 total tests; 102 deaths
• Montgomery County: 1,632 confirmed cases; 9,372 total tests; 38 deaths
• Tuscaloosa County: 738 confirmed cases; 10,735 total tests; 14 deaths
• Marshall County: 687 confirmed cases; 5,625 total tests; 9 deaths
• Franklin County: 545 confirmed cases; 2,061 total tests; 7 deaths
• Lee County: 540 confirmed cases; 6,301 total tests; 33 deaths
• Shelby County: 503 confirmed cases; 9,182 total tests; 19 deaths
• Tallapoosa County: 423 confirmed cases; 2,561 total tests; 64 deaths
• Chambers County: 353 confirmed cases; 1,527 total tests; 25 deaths

Follow the coronavirus in Alabama using the Department of Public Health's Data and Surveillance Dashboard.