Maddox Gives Updates On COVID-19 Numbers, City Workforce Gains

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox gave a weekly COVID-19 response update to the City Council during the pre-council agenda briefings on Tuesday, which saw the mayor touch on topics ranging from the city's workforce position to testing classifications for University of Alabama students as they relate to local totals.

Maddox said while there have been some gains as it relates to inpatient totals at DCH Health System over the last couple of weeks, the number of virus-related deaths reported for Tuscaloosa County continues to climb, following along with statewide trends.

"The thing I think we need to continue to watch are our deaths per day," Maddox said. "We had nearly a 20% increase in fatalities over the last week and that trend line continues to go up, certainly something we need to continue to monitor."

According to the most recent state health department data, Tuscaloosa County's death toll has climbed to 79. As of Tuesday, Tuscaloosa County had confirmed 4,269 total COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

DCH Health System on Tuesday reported 85 inpatient cases, 29 of whom are being treated in the three-hospital system's intensive care units (ICUs). DCH also reported eight patients are currently on ventilators, which marks an improvement from the last two weeks.

Tuscaloosa currently has 723 active cases, according to Maddox, which marks an improvement compared to a high of 951 active cases at the peak of a surge on July 27. Maddox also said a total of 37,000 people had been tested in Tuscaloosa County to date, but cautioned that the local numbers moving forward will likely continue to omit one major demographic — University of Alabama students.

"The UA students that test positive, ADPH is assigning those cases not to Tuscaloosa County and are being assigned to where their homes are," Maddox said. "We will not see those in the ADPH reports. We won’t be able to tell you if somebody outside the city tested positive. The numbers you see are most likely non-university students."

Maddox went on to say that the city of Tuscaloosa's workforce, which has been a point of concern throughout the pandemic as the city works to maintain services and the health of its employees, has vastly improved following the implementation of new guidelines.

"The new measures we’ve put into place is putting our employees back to work quicker, but I am concerned about next week with the start of school ... but this week we’re probably in the best shape we’ve been in last four to six weeks for the city," he said.

In discussing further response measures, Maddox said he met this week with various bar and restaurant owners to talk through new regulations passed by the City Council last week.

To clear up a misconception in the community, the mayor then reiterated that alcohol sales, by state mandate, end at 11 p.m. and not 9 p.m., which is when the City Council voted to begin limiting capacity in bars.