Tuscaloosa COVID-19 Hospitalizations More Than Double In Week

TUSCALOOSA, AL — DCH Health System added 18 more inpatients testing positive for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, resulting in its overall total of hospitalizations more than doubling over the last week.

This comes amid fears of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus and as Tuscaloosa County nears 40,000 total COVID-19 cases confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic

Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.

At present, DCH reports 70 total COVID-19 inpatients — the most for the hospital system since Oct. 11, 2021. Of those patients, 61% are unvaccinated. This has prompted the hospital to urge the public against coming to its emergency room for COVID-19 testing or symptoms that do not require emergency care.

As Patch reported on Thursday, the hospital system's emergency rooms have been inundated with patients who have non-emergent COVID-19 symptoms. DCH said this has resulted in significantly longer wait times for all patients, thus resulting in the hospital system asking residents to stay home if their symptoms do not require immediate care.

According to the most recent data from the Alabama Department of Public Health, a total of 1,028 COVID-19 cases have been identified in Tuscaloosa County since Jan. 1.

DCH reports that 783 total inpatients who were positive for COVID-19 have died at the hospital since the onset of the pandemic, while ADPH data shows 664 Tuscaloosa County residents who have died.

Public health officials continue to insist that the widely-available vaccine in the best method of combating the coronavirus.

As of Thursday, 215,160 total doses had been administered in Tuscaloosa County, with 88,318 residents completing their vaccination series.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com