HUNTSVILLE, Ala. —
As the number of Alabama COVID-19 cases climb to nearly 16,000, cities across the state are struggling to keep up. But, Madison County officials say that this area is proving to be something of an "anomaly".
Officials give us the latest in our county’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic during Wednesday's COVID-19 update.
David Spilers, CEO of Huntsville Hospital, says, “I can’t tell you why there’s a difference between our numbers and the state. I only know that our numbers, we’re very comfortable with… We’re very comfortable with our numbers relative to the tests that we performed.”
Reporters asked during the conference if some patients from places like Montgomery or Birmingham, cities experiencing spikes in COVID-19 in-patients, could be transferred to Madison County hospitals to fill the need for ICU beds. David Spilers says, "Unless the numbers start doubling or tripling from where we are today, I think as a state we will be okay. We’ll distribute the patients as needed.”
After observing the community over Memorial Day weekend, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle says safe practices are paying off. Mayor Battle says, “There were a lot of people out there with masks. Wearing those masks. Staying separated.”
Three months ago, the county held its first COVID-19 update. But, there is far to go before a vaccine is developed. Mayor Battle says, “The end is not totally in sight but, we’re going to have an economy. We’re going to walk that fine line of opening the economy and making sure the public is safe.”
And people could be feeling the effects.
David Spilers says, “We have pandemic fatigue in our community. People aren’t willing to do what they were doing 30 days ago
Testing availability is increasing. The county hospital systems have had over 20 remote testing sites established. Now, a new antibody test is being offered at Huntsville Hospital, one that’s available for local physicians to have access to.
But, David Spillers says a lot of testing resources are used on those without symptoms. He says, “we've... tested close to 1,000 asymptomatic patients and we’ve had one test positive. So, clearly not the best use of testing.”
He urges people to only seek testing if necessary.
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