Montgomery now ‘very high risk’ on Alabama’s risk indicator dashboard

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The Alabama Department of Public Health updated its risk indicator dashboard Friday, and there were several risk status changes for counties in central Alabama.

The updated map shows Montgomery, Lowndes and Butler are among the 18 counties in the state that are now considered “very high risk," which means the number of COVID-19 cases is staying the same or is increasing in those counties.

This the latest breakdown of each county in Alabama by risk category:

• Low Risk (Green) Category [17]: Baldwin, Barbour, Chambers, Choctaw, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Hale, Lamar, Mobile, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, Tuscaloosa
• Moderate Risk (Yellow) Category [9]: Chilton, Clarke, Covington, Greene, Houston, Lauderdale, Lee, Marion, Tallapoosa
• High Risk (Orange) Category [23]: Autauga, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Colbert, Conecuh, Coosa, Crenshaw, Etowah, Franklin, Henry, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Marshall, Monroe, St. Clair, Sumter, Walker, Washington, Wilcox
• Very High Risk (Red) Category [18]: Bibb, Butler, Cleburne, Coffee, Cullman, DeKalb, Fayette, Jefferson, Lawrence, Limestone, Lowndes, Marengo, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Talladega, Winston

The most recent dashboard, released Friday, contains data reported through Oct. 10. ADPH says the data are lagged to allow for completeness in reporting. The dashboard will be updated again on Oct. 23.

ADPH says people living in red, orange, or yellow should follow guidelines to help move their area toward the low risk phase. People living in green should follow guidelines for low risk to stay in the low risk phase.

Whether the COVID-19 case counts are increasing or decreasing influences a county’s risk level. Below is a description of each risk level:

• If the number of cases is staying the same or is increasing, the category will be Very High Risk (Red).
• If a county has decreasing case counts for 1 to 6 days, they will begin in the High Risk (orange) category.
• If a county is in a downward trajectory of 7-13 days, they will begin in the Moderate (yellow) category.
• If a county is in a downward trajectory of 14 or more days (or has a rate of 10 or less over the previous 2 weeks), they will begin in the Low Risk (green) category.

[View Alabama’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard]

As of Friday, Alabama had 170,374 total cases statewide since the start of the pandemic. A total of 2,786 people have died, and 18,737 have been hospitalized. There have been 74,238 presumed recoveries.

According to ADPH, cases are presumed recovered "if it has been 14 days or more since the case tested positive if they were not hospitalized, or if it has been 32 days or more since the case tested positive if they were hospitalized or if hospitalization was unknown. All deaths excluded.”

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