New COVID-19 cases reduced by half following Ala. mask mandate

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Soaring COVID-19 numbers are no longer a daily reality for Alabama.

There were 633 new cases reported Monday, which is less than half the daily total one month ago.

The current seven-day average is half that of the week of July 15 when Gov. Kay Ivey and Alabama public health officer Dr. Scott Harris announced the state’s mask mandate. They credit the public health order for the downward trend in new cases over the last eight weeks.

Locally, Montgomery hasn’t reported daily triple-digit case numbers since early August. Only 10 new cases were reported Monday. Montgomery’s seven day average is 24, down from 73 a month ago.

In cases per 100,000, Montgomery’s cases are still narrowly the lowest among the three largest counties in Alabama. However, it’s still routinely testing far fewer patients.

Counties in Alabama’s Black Belt region are carrying some of the highest COVID-19 cases in the state when using the same scale. Cases per 100,000 in Lowndes, Perry and Wilcox counties far exceed the state’s largest three counties.

Lowndes County carries the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state per 100,000 residents, doubling that of Jefferson and Mobile counties.

The state is making sizable strides in decreasing the number of patients admitted with COVID-19. There were 778 patients treated at hospitals across the state on Monday, marking the lowest inpatient capacity since June. Sixty-one of those patients are being treated in Montgomery-area hospitals.

That accounts for 24 patients Jackson Hospital and 37 among the three Baptist Hospital campuses. This is the lowest number of inpatients reported by Baptist Health since early May.

Despite a decrease in the number of new cases, the Alabama Department of Public Health elevated several counties' risk classifications on Friday on its Risk Indicator Dashboard, which helps gauge the transmission rate across the state.

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