COVID-19

After leading the state for the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic with the fewest number of cases in the state, Fayette County now leads the state in a more negative area. For the past two weeks, Fayette County has totaled the highest positivity rate for Coronavirus testing in the state. According to data compiled by the Alabama Department of Public Health, from Nov. 23 – Dec. 7, 377 COVID-19 tests had been administered to Fayette County residents. An alarming 212 of the tests were positive, resulting in a positivity rate of 56 percent.

Fayette County, the State of Alabama and the United States are all currently experiencing a spike in new COVID-19 cases. For the first few months of the pandemic, Fayette County had the lowest number of total cases in the state. Now, several counties are ahead of Fayette County in the fewest number of cases in the state. As of Friday, Nov. 20, Fayette County had 800 total cases of the coronavirus, with 16 deaths. The new cases are rising by approximately 10 cases per day.

As the season turns to fall, the nearly year-long COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep a firm grip on the state and the nation. The total number of confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus in the state totaled 152,983 cases with 2,501 deaths on Monday, Sept. 28. Fayette County’s totals, which were the lowest in the state for the first few months of the pandemic, now total 467 cases and eight deaths. These totals are currently listed as the seventh lowest totals in the state.

After starting school on Aug. 20, the Fayette County School System is starting to experience some of the attendance problems that were expected due to attending school during a pandemic.
On Monday, Sept. 14, the Fayette County Board of Education reported that, since the beginning of the school year, 180 total individuals had been quarantined throughout the school system.

Fayette County saw a slight decline in the number of new cases of the COVID-19 virus during the past week, registering 24 new cases for the seven-day period from Monday, Aug. 17 – Monday, Aug. 24. For each of the past two weeks, Fayette County had registered more than 30 new cases of the coronavirus each week. The total number of coronavirus cases in the county totaled 270 at press time, with the county also reporting one additional death within the past week to bring the total number of deaths to six.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to hold a firm grip on the state and nation as students return to classes for another school year. Fayette County had its largest one-day increase in new cases from Aug. 10 - 11, with 11 new cases of the coronavirus reported in one day. The county had a weekly increase of 34 new cases, down slightly from the 38 new cases reported the previous week.

Fayette County saw its weekly total of new cases increase from 174 on Aug. 3 to 212 on Aug. 10. The 38-case increase is the largest seven-day increase yet for Fayette County. The county’s new cases of the coronavirus have more than doubled in less than a month. On July 13, the Alabama Department of Public Health showed only 90 cases of the virus reported within the county.  Fayette County’s death toll from the COVID-19 virus remains at five.

Alabama’s new cases of the COVID-19 virus again increased by nearly 11,000 new cases last week, with the weekly death toll dropping from 189 new deaths to 134. Although the numbers in Alabama are slightly better than last week, the number of new coronavirus cases remains alarmingly high as school is scheduled to reopen on Aug. 19. Fayette County saw its weekly total of new cases increase from 23 the previous week to 30 new cases for the seven-day period ending Aug. 3. Fayette County’s death toll from the COVID-19 virus remains at five.

Alabama’s new cases of the COVID-19 virus continued at an alarming pace last week, with an increase of more than 11,000 new cases and 189 new deaths. The number of cases hit an all-time daily high increase of 2,283 new cases from July 22 – 23. The news was slightly better for Fayette County, which registered an increase of 23 new cases and no additional deaths for the seven-day period from July 20-27. Last week, Fayette had a seven-day increase of 31 new cases and four additional deaths reported by the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Fayette County recorded its largest weekly total of new COVID-19 cases last week, as the numbers spiked following the Independence Day holiday. From Monday, July 13 - Monday, July 20, Fayette County had an increase of 31 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total at press time to 121 cases. The largest previous increase in one week was 26 new cases for the seven-day period concluding on June 15. On July 13, the Alabama Department of Public Health was still reporting only one death in Fayette County from the coronavirus.