DCH Hits Highest Coronavirus Inpatient Total Since August Spike

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — Just days before Thanksgiving, new coronavirus hospitalizations are rising for DCH Health System, topping a total not seen since a second-wave spike in early August.

According to data published Monday afternoon, DCH reported 12 new inpatients logged in Northport and Tuscaloosa, bringing its current total to 81. Monday's rise is also the highest number since the system recorded 83 cases on Aug. 8, which came amid a downward trend after the system hit triple digits in July.

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Tuesday's new hospitalization numbers also shows five of the last seven days saw the hospital system report more than 10 new inpatient admissions per day.

In looking at the bigger picture, Tuscaloosa County added 133 new cases Tuesday, according to Bamatracker.com, marking a single-day high since Sept. 30, when the county confirmed 177 cases, likely attributed to a data dump from a backlog with the state health department. The county also topped 9,000 total cases, 1,442 of which have been identified over the last two weeks.

DCH also confirmed 20 patients are being treated in intensive care units (ICUs), which is actually lower than the 22 reported in the system's ICUs two weeks ago, while "five or fewer" patients are receiving care via ventilators.

In total, 119 deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been confirmed for Tuscaloosa County, with an additional 31 listed as probable.

Local schools are following a similar trend as new cases rise across the community and state. According to Tuesday's updated numbers from Tuscaloosa City Schools, a total of 324 students or 3% of the entire student population, are currently in isolation due to positivity or exposure.

TCS reports a total of 14 active student cases, in addition to 14 active employee cases. The system has been hit hard by the latest wave of COVID-19 spreading as it relates to staffing, 75 employees are in quarantine, representing more than 5% of the school system's employees.

As for the Tuscaloosa County School System, with roughly 19,000 students across 34 schools, the school district said a total of 163 TCSS students or employees who tested positive for COVID-19 during the Nov. 6-19 testing period.

Of the 163 positive cases, TCSS says 75 of those were at Tuscaloosa County High School. TCHS currently reports roughly 1,200 students registered for on-campus learning.

With Thanksgiving on Thursday, local officials have stopped just short of calling it a certainty that cases will climb due to social gatherings. One hope has been that with in-person instruction at the University of Alabama ending for the semester on Nov. 20, the local population will be drastically reduced as students head home.

As the holiday season approaches, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more than 1 million COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States over the last seven days and as cases continue to increase across the country, the safest way to observe Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with.

Click here for Thanksgiving recommendations from the CDC ahead of the holiday.

The CDC also provided a checklist for people who should not attended Thanksgiving gatherings of any kind:

• If the person has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and has not met the criteria for when it is safe to be around others.
• If the person has symptoms of COVID-19.
• If the person is waiting for COVID-19 viral test results.
• If the person has been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
• If the person is at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19

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