300 Coronavirus Cases Confirmed In Jefferson County

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The number of coronavirus cases in Jefferson County continues to increase, as 300 cases have been confirmed in the county as of Wednesday afternoon. Jefferson County's total continues to make up almost a third of the nearly 1,100 cases statewide.

UAB Hospital reported Tuesday that the number of patients being treated for COVID-19 had decreased from last week, but Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UAB, said that may not be an indicator of a curb in total cases.

"It's a little too early to say if we've flattened the curve in Birmingham," Marrazzo said in a press conference Wednesday. "Our testing sites have been functioning really well. People should be able to get tested if they want to. However, if you're not showing symptoms, you probably don't need to be tested."

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One issue Marrazzo stressed in her press conference Wednesday was the need to conserve personal protective equipment. "We don't need people wasting high level PPE by walking around the grocery store," Marrazzo said. "Our doctors and healthcare workers need them."

Marrazzo said UAB is conducting around 400 tests per day. The Alabama Department of Public Health reported that nearly 8,000 tests have been conducted statewide, with 1,060 patients testing positive. The ADPH has confirmed 17 deaths from the illness, while listing 26 "reported deaths."

"Reported Deaths" and "Died From Illness" are separate statistics, and represent the number of individuals who have a positive lab result and are now deceased. To count a person who died from COVID-19 disease, the medical record of the deceased person has to be reviewed by a physician and Infectious Disease and Outbreak staff.

Once review is complete, if the death is attributed to COVID-19, the individual will also be included in the Died From Illness total.

Here are the total number of coronavirus cases by county:

• Autauga (8)
• Baldwin (20)
• Bibb (3)
• Blount (5)
• Bullock (3)
• Butler (1)
• Calhoun (11)
• Chambers (42)
• Cherokee (2)
• Chilton (13)
• Choctaw (4)
• Clay (2)
• Cleburne (6)
• Colbert (4)
• Coosa (4)
• Covington (3)
• Crenshaw (1)
• Cullman (9)
• Dallas (2)
• DeKalb (5)
• Elmore (14)
• Escambia (1)
• Etowah (10)
• Fayette (1)
• Franklin (3)
• Greene (4)
• Hale (1)
• Houston (8)
• Jackson (8)
• Jefferson (300)
• Lamar (1)
• Lauderdale (12)
• Lawrence (3)
• Lee (81)
• Limestone (23)
• Lowndes (1)
• Macon (1)
• Madison (105)
• Marengo (4)
• Marion (9)
• Marshall (6)
• Mobile (56)
• Monroe (1)
• Montgomery (35)
• Morgan (19)
• Pickens (4)
• Pike (5)
• Randolph (5)
• Russell (1)
• St. Clair (18)
• Shelby (88)
• Sumter (2)
• Talladega (7)
• Tallapoosa (13)
• Tuscaloosa (30)
• Walker (32)
• Washington (3)
• Wilcox (3)
• Winston (2)

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