By Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News
The number of reported hospitalizations related to COVID-19 dipped to 775 on Saturday, the lowest number since late June, the Alabama Department of Public Health reported.
The figure came from 97 hospitals reporting. On Sunday, 94 hospitals reported 790 hospitalizations as state officials are likely watching for post-Labor Day spikes in cases and severe illnesses.
Hospitalizations peaked in early August at 1,613.
Bama Tracker Confirmed COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The ADPH reported 1,109 new cases of the virus on Sunday, 972 confirmed and 137 probable cases.
The independent website BamaTracker, which uses ADPH data, over the weekend reported a seven-day average of new cases, including probable cases, at 834.
Since March, the state has reported 138,755 COVID-19 cases, 12,960 of those being probable cases. There have been 2,218 confirmed deaths.
More than 1 million COVID-19 tests have now been administered in the state, according to ADPH.
A new report from the New England Journal of Medicine shows that universal mask-wearing could be giving populations of people COVID-19 immunity due to severely limiting the “infectious dose” at the time of transmission.
The report advances a promising theory mask wearing might help reduce the severity of the virus and by leading to a higher proportion of new cases be less severe and asymptomatic.
Read more from the Telegraph HERE.