Alabama sees decrease in positive COVID-19 tests

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The map on Alabama’s COVID-19 dashboard is still solid red. Community transmission remains high, but that could change soon.

“Our hope and expectation is they continue to fall,” said Dr. Wes Stubblefield with the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Community transmission remains high in Alabama.(Source: ADPH)

The doctor explained that In mid-January around 47% of Alabamians tested were positive – a new pandemic high. Right now, the state is sitting at around 34.2%.

“The virus may just be running out of people to infect,” Stubblefield said. “At some point, enough people have been infected or have been vaccinated, that there’s just not a lot of pool of people left.”

It is not just COVID-19, as less people are also getting the flu right now.

“Probably because of more masking with Omicron,” he said. “We’ve just not seen a lot of flu activity, which is a good thing.”

While ADPH is cautiously optimistic seeing these improvements, Stubblefield adds families are still hurting right now.

“We had 69 deaths yesterday, and so people are still sick,” he said. “The hospital is still full of very sick COVID patients. Our ICUs have patients in them, and many people on ventilators.”

“So, a lot of very sick people out there, and don’t want to forget those people that are hurting and suffering,” Stubblefield added.

While experts hope COVID mutates down into something more like the common cold, this pandemic is simply unpredictable.

“We don’t know,” the doctor said. “Every time we turn around, we think we’re out of the woods, something else happened. So we’re guarded but we’re optimistic.”

A lot is unknown on what the future holds, but Stubblefield believes the COVID-19 vaccines could become an annual thing after this pandemic – almost like a flu shot.

Health experts stress it is also safe to get your COVID-19 vaccine and your flu vaccine at the same time.