Etowah County surpasses 19k COVID-19 cases, 450 deaths
Etowah County has officially seen 19,341 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
This year alone, the county has seen 8,512 cases, including 504 since last Wednesday. This leaves 2,317 cases of COVID-19 to be seen before the county surpasses its 2020 total of cases of 10,829.
The seven-day average for positive COVID-19 tests in the county currently is 218. With the state of Alabama’s positivity rate at 13.2%, Etowah County still remains at a higher rate of 21.8%.
Deaths in the county have reached 462, with 223 of those being seen in 2021 alone. With the 2020 total deaths at 239 and 13 deaths seen since Wednesday, the county is only 16 deaths away from surpassing last year’s annual total.
The Gadsden-Etowah Emergency Management Agency has recorded the rate of new daily cases per 100,000 residents as “severe,” at 92.8. It also reports ICU capacity in the county is down to 93%, but remains in a critical state.
All three public school systems in Etowah County reported a decrease in COVID-19 cases since the previous week. Attalla City Schools had the lowest number of cases with 11 in total. Etowah County Schools reported 41 cases and Gadsden City Schools reported 27.
The EMA reports that 43% of Etowah County’s population is vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In total, the county has administered 80,793 vaccines. Of those, 46,122 have had at least one dose, and 36,996 report to be fully vaccinated.
Statewide, 790,648 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded since the beginning of the pandemic. With 402,384 cases seen in 2021, this leaves a surplus of 14,120 cases compared to last year’s total of 388,264. The state has a seven-day average of 8,872.
Deaths in Alabama stand at 14,025, with 6,842 seen this year alone. With a pace of 360 deaths since last Wednesday, there's a gap of 341 until the death count passes the 2020 total of 7,183.
While the state mostly remains in a high risk of COVID-19 transmission, seven counties have seen a decrease in risk status since last Wednesday. Clarke, Greene and Marengo counties are currently at a substantial risk; Perry, Sumter, Washington and Wilcox counties are at a moderate risk.
UAB reported that as of Friday, 80 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19. Of those, only 10 were vaccinated against the virus; 70 were not. In critical care, it reported 41 patients were in the ICU, 36 unvaccinated and five who were. UAB had 32 patients on ventilators; 28 weren't vaccinated against the virus.
The state has also administered 4,239,065 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of those, 2,422,388 have received one dose and 1,946,935 have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Etowah County surpasses 19k cases, 450 deaths
