ADPH: 15 Alabama counties have ‘high community transmission’ of COVID-19

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - After months of decline, numerous Alabama counties are now labeled as having “high” community transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

According to the latest data from the Alabama Department of Public Health, 17 of the state’s 67 counties are labeled red, indicating a high covid risk. Across our area, Autauga, Macon, Lee and Crenshaw Counties have been labeled high risk.

ADPH says the percentage of tests coming back positive is now 8.4 percent.

In the last week, 26,024 people have tested for the coronavirus and of those, 2,012 returned as positive. It is important to note that these tests do not include tests taken by an individual at home.

As of Tuesday, 19,633 Alabamians have died from COVID-19.

Overall, the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 has decreased. As of Friday, there were currently 57 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the state.

In April, Dr. Karen Landers with ADPH said the state was in a “reasonable” place with COVID-19, but she urged residents to remain cautious.

Alabama began administering the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 15, 2020, and the Moderna vaccine shortly followed. The FDA approved a single dose of Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine on Feb. 27, 2021. As of May 13, 2022, there have been 5,979,354 vaccines administered.

Editors Note: This story originally noted that 17 counties were labeled as being high-risk. ADPH has since updated its data Wednesday to indicate only 15 counties as high-risk.