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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

It was another record-high week in Shelby County’s battle with COVID-19, as 239 new cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed, causing the county to eclipse the 1,000 confirmed-case mark.

Now with 1,018 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, the last week has marked the first time since the first confirmed cases that there have been more than 200 in a seven-day span.

During the last week, there have been more than 30 cases each day except for Saturday, June 27, which was at five new cases. But that day’s numbers were so low because of a backlog, which was made up with Sunday’s number of 66 new cases.

That means there was an average of 34.14 new cases during the last seven days, while there has been one new death in the last week.

Those new numbers come with 2,092 new tests administered in the last week, which was about the same as the previous seven days and brought the total number of tests administered to 16,549.

That means that 6.15 percent of those tested have tested positive, while 7.6 percent of the county’s population has been tested and 0.47 percent of the population has tested positive.

In the last week, however, 11.4 percent of those tested have tested positive, while the last 14 days have marked 360 new cases and 4,597 new tests.

Statewide, there are now 36,682 confirmed cases of the virus, which marks an increase of 6,651 new cases—one of the largest seven-day totals since the first case was confirmed on March 13.

There have now been 392,800 people tested across the state, which marks an increase of 44,113 new tests in the last week.

That means over the last seven days, 15.1 percent of those tested have tested positive.

Overall, 9.3 percent of those tested across the state since the virus started have tested positive, while 0.74 percent of the state’s population has now tested positive and 8 percent of the population has been tested.

There have now been 905 deaths so far across the state with 18,866 presumed recoveries according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

That marks 74 new deaths in the last seven days, making the survival rate 97.6 percent with 2.4 percent of those with a positive test dying from the disease.

Of those who have died, 78.2 percent have been 65 or older, while 17.1 percent have been between the ages of 50 and 64 and 4.2 percent have been between the ages of 25 and 49. A combined 0.4 percent of deaths have been in those between 0 and 24.

That’s despite the number of confirmed cases being highest in those between the ages of 25 and 49. That age range makes up 41.23 percent of positive cases, while 20.78 percent are between the ages of 50 and 64, 17.82 percent are between 5 and 24 and 17.75 percent are older than 65.

So far, there have been 2,725 hospitalizations since the virus began with 801 of those in the intensive care unit and 457 on ventilators. A total of 3,517 healthcare workers have tested positive, while 2,413 long-term care residents and 1,550 long-term care employees have tested positive.

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.