Nearly 900 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours

Nearly 900 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the state in the last 24 hours, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

As of 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, there have been 854 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the state, coming to a cumulative number of 37,536.

Additionally, there are 509 probable cases in the state.

According to ADPH's website, probable cases are the total number of patients who have had close contact with a confirmed case, have symptoms meeting clinical criteria of COVID-19 and have no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19.

In a Tuesday morning press conference, ADPH state health officer Dr. Scott Harris said 28% of all cases throughout the pandemic have been confirmed in the last 14 days. 

"Even though we're testing more than we've ever tested, the percentage is going up and is high as it's been," Harris said. "Even though we're testing more, we're finding a greater percentage of those who are positive."

Harris said three-quarters of all deaths have occurred in seniors.

"Even though they're only about 17% of our cases, seniors who are affected with this disease have a 1 in 9 chance of not surviving," Harris said, "and that's a tragedy."

Harris urges Alabamians to take COVID-19 seriously.

"Please continue to take this seriously," Harris said. "I know so many of you have, but we know there are many who have not yet gotten the message. Our state is opened back up in many ways but this is not the time to let our guard down."

Harris said this is particularly true for seniors and those with chronic health problems.

In the last 14 days, there have been 10,715 new confirmed cases with 111,753 tests given, according to what ADPH is currently reporting.

Tallapoosa County added four new cases in the last day, now at 560 confirmed cases. Tallapoosa County has 69 COVID-19 deaths to still rank No. 4 for most deaths in the state. There are seven probable cases in Tallapoosa County and one probable death.

ADPH's 14-day count-specific data shows Tallapoosa County has seen 80 new cases and 1,120 tests given.

Coosa County is still at 55 confirmed cases with one confirmed death. There are no probable deaths or cases. There have been nine new cases and 126 tested in the last two weeks, according to ADPH.

Elmore County's added 10 new cases in the last two days to be at 806 confirmed cases and 14 COVID-19 deaths. There are now 16 probable cases in Elmore County and zero probable deaths. ADPH's 14-day county-specific data shows Elmore County has seen 233 new cases and 2,068 tests.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 406,143 tests performed throughout the state, according to ADPH. A total of 486 have been tested in Coosa County, 6,527 in Elmore County and 4,731 in Tallapoosa County.

Statewide, there have been 926 deaths due to COVID-19 and 24 probable deaths, according to ADPH.

Confirmed and probable deaths represent patients who have a death certificate that lists COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. Confirmed deaths have a laboratory confirmation of the disease while probable deaths have no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19.

According to ADPH's presumed recoveries category, which will be updated weekly and was updated Wednesday morning, 18,866 people statewide have presumably recovered from COVID-19.

"Cases are presumed recovered if it has been 14 days or more since the case tested positive if they were not hospitalized, or if it has been 32 days or more since the case tested positive if they were hospitalized or if hospitalization was unknown," ADPH wrote in a Facebook post. "All deaths excluded."

There have been 2,769 hospitalizations across the state since March 13, according to ADPH.

Harris said the dashboard should see operational and display changes in the dashboard by the end of the day.

All data can be viewed here. ADPH's dashboard is updated around 10 a.m. each day and Tallapoosa Publishers publishes a report detailing all information around noon each day.

Here is the latest information in all counties as of 12:45 p.m. Tuesday: