Coronavirus Cases Top 6,800 In Alabama, 1,000 In Mobile County

MONTGOMERY, AL — While Jefferson County has led the state in total coronavirus cases for most of the pandemic, the state's largest county has seen percentages slow in regard to cases per capita and per number of patients tested. Unfortunately, some counties are not seeing a flattening of the curve, as Mobile County surpassed 1,000 total cases Wednesday, outpacing Jefferson County my nearly 200 cases.

In all, Alabama has reported more than 6,800 total coronavirus cases, with 245 total deaths as of Wednesday afternoon. Mobile County makes up about 15 percent of those cases and 18 percent of the state's deaths.

These new numbers come after Alabama's "stay-at-home" order will expire on Thursday and be replaced with a new "safer-at-home" order issued by Gov. Kay Ivey. The new order allows some businesses to reopen while maintaining restrictions in place to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

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"The threat of COVID-19 is not over," Ivey said. "The greatest disservice is to think that by lifting the comprehensive health restrictions that this is a sign that the threat of COVID-19 no longer exists."

The counties with the most coronavirus cases as of Wednesday afternoon:

• Mobile County: 1,010 confirmed cases; 7,089 total tests; 46 deaths
• Jefferson County: 870 confirmed cases; 13,688 total tests; 42 deaths
• Lee County: 379 confirmed cases; 2,641 total tests; 26 deaths
• Shelby County: 320 confirmed cases; 3,400 total tests; 10 deaths
• Marshall County: 316 confirmed cases; 1,782 total tests; 6 deaths

UAB has multiple clinical COVID-19 studies underway. Clinical studies refer to studies that are conducted in patients or control groups. Many of these studies launched shortly after patients began arriving at the hospital.

"The clinical studies are a mix of therapeutic approaches to treating COVID-19 and formulating a better understanding on the effects of the virus on different subsets of our population," said Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., director of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine. "These are vital new projects that might help us curb and control the pandemic and lead to new understanding about how to prevent infection in the future."

Clinical projects underway or planned include studies of a number of possible therapies for patients with moderate to severe disease, including remdesivir, developed through the UAB-housed Antiviral Drug Discovery and Development Center.

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