Alabama’s COVID-19 positivity rate, a leading indicator for case number increases, appears to have slightly plateaued after trending upwards for several weeks, with hospitalizations continuing to rise, according to data from the Alabama Department of Public Health.
As of Monday, the state’s positivity rate over the past seven days — the proportion of COVID-19 tests that are positive — was 20.3 percent, down slightly from the high of 20.4 percent reported on Saturday, according to data from ADPH.
The positivity rate is at the same level it was in early February, the difference being that in February, the rate was trending downward with a higher amount of tests being reported. Monday’s positivity rate comes as fewer tests are being reported to ADPH, and the rate is trending upwards.
At-home testing has reduced the amount of COVID-19 tests reported back to ADPH, which is why the case positivity rate is among the best indicators to determine when cases are rising, as opposed to relying on the absolute number of positive cases.
Hospitalization due to COVID-19, which have been steadily increasing after a slight downtick in previous weeks, is up to 358, a sharp increase from numbers reported Sunday, which showed 306 confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to data from ADPH.
There are 129 more patients in hospitals with COVID-19 compared to the same time last week, according to data from ADPH.
As of Monday, the state vaccination rate remains stagnant, with only 51.5 percent of the population fully vaccinated.
Federal regulators at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recently signed off on using Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations for children as young as six months of age, a long-awaited moment by parents with small children.
