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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

Following a sharp increase of 33 cases in a 24-hour span between May 25 and 26, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Shelby County was half that into Friday morning, May 29, with 17 new confirmed cases.

While this stands to be the worst week the county has seen in close to a month with 50 new cases between Monday and Friday morning, the number of confirmed cases each day seems to be back to a more manageable number of less than 10 new cases per day with that one-day spike being the lone speed bump.

Previously, however, during seven day spans the last two weeks, the county had seen increases of 35 and 32, which it beat during a four-day span this week by at least 15.

Those new numbers come with 331 tests looked at by the Alabama Department of Public Health between Monday night and Friday morning, meaning 5.1 percent of those tested have gotten the virus, while the total number of COVID-19 cases is now nearing 500 at 484.

The ADPH also made new recovery numbers available for the state on Thursday, bringing the number of presumed recoveries up to 9,355. That marks 1,404 new recoveries of the virus in the last week, as the ADPH makes those numbers available each week.

Overall, the state now has 16,530 confirmed cases of the virus, meaning 56.6 percent who have contracted the virus have recovered. And thanks to 10,590 new tests in the last two days, more than 200,000 have been tested across the state, as the total number of tests administered now sits at 204,349.

The last 14 days makes up a large portion of those tests with 74,550 tests administered in that time with 5,444 positive tests in that same span. That marks 7.3 percent of those tested getting back positive results.

Shelby County alone has had 8,791 tests looked at by the ADPH, which means 5.5 percent of those tested have gotten back positive results. In addition to that, 4 percent of the population in the county has been tested, while 0.22 percent of the population has gotten back a positive result.

Statewide, 8.1 percent of those tested have gotten back positive results, which is slightly up from the 7 percent mark where the numbers have hovered for the last two weeks.

So far, 4.2 percent of the population has been tested since March 13 when the virus started in Alabama, while 0.3 percent of the state’s population has had positive results.

The death total for the county continues to sit at 19, where it has been for close to two weeks, while the state total had risen to 591 as of Friday morning.

Of those who have died, 81 percent have been 65 or older, while 15.6 percent have been between the ages of 50 and 64 and 3.4 percent between 25 and 49.

Those numbers come despite the majority of cases being in those between the ages of 25 and 49, as that age group represents 40.54 percent of all cases. A total of 76.1 percent of confirmed cases have been between the ages of 5 and 64, while 22.51 percent are 65 or older.

Since the virus started, there have been 1,778 hospitalizations across the state, which has risen by more than 100 in the last 48 hours. Of those hospitalizations, 569 are in the intensive care unit and 340 are on ventilators.

There have also been 2,138 confirmed cases in healthcare workers, while 1,635 long-term care residents and 985 long-term care employees have had confirmed cases.

The hardest hit counties so far include Mobile, Jefferson and Montgomery, who all have more than 1,000 confirmed cases. Mobile became the first to surpass 2,000 confirmed cases and now sits at 2,124, while Jefferson is at 1,712 and Montgomery 1,541.

For a while, Shelby County had the second most cases, but with the surge in other counties and Shelby’s decrease in confirmed cases each day, Marshall (668), Tuscaloosa (678), Lee (533) and Franklin (514) all have more now, meaning Shelby now has the eighth most cases.

If you think you have been exposed or have symptoms of COVID-19, please isolate and call your doctor or nearest medical facility for guidance or call the Alabama Department of Public Health hotline at 1-888-264-2256.

For more information about COVID-19, visit Alabamapublichealth.gov/infectiousdiseases/2019-coronavirus.

To view an updated dashboard of confirmed cases and see testing sites, visit Alpublichealth.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/6d2771faa9da4a2786a509d82c8cf0f7

Continue to follow throughout this week for daily updates to see if the upward trend continues in relation to the number of tests administered.