Dr. Nichols: 89 cases of COVID this week in Madison City Schools
Madison Hospital see rise and fall of COVID patients during the past week; ADPH says daily rate of new cases being reported are declining in Madison County
MADISON – Madison City Schools Superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols addressed the current COVID situation in Madison schools on Friday. He said the school district is seeing the highest number of positives since they have been tracking COVID. There have been 89 positive cases of COVID within the district this week.
“Due to the fact that we have so many positive cases, nurses and school personnel have begun contacting ‘close contacts’ as defined by the ADPH,” he said. “These close contacts are excluded from school and school activities for 14 days based on the ADPH (unless they have been fully vaccinated or have been diagnosed COVID positive in the last 90 days). These will be excused absences.”
“Currently, due to the fact that we have masks and have done our best to spread students out where possible, the number of students excluded from school in relation to these positives is significantly lower than we saw last year when students were quarantined under the ADPH guidelines,” Nichols added.
Governor Kay Ivey earlier today issued a limited State of Emergency based on the surge in COVID-19 cases. She stressed that this emergency order was not the same she declared over a year ago. “I want to be abundantly clear: there will be absolutely no statewide mandates, closures or the like. This state of emergency is strategically targeted at removing bureaucracy and cutting red tape wherever we can to allow our doctors, nurses and hospital staff to treat patients that come through their door,” Ivey stated.
However, Nichols indicated the school districts throughout the state expect this to prompt the Alabama Department of Public Health to issue further guidance next week.
“It is our understanding that more information will be issued at the beginning of next week on current COVID procedures and protocols from the ADPH. We will provide an update of any changes once we receive that information,” Nichols said.
Regarding athletics, Nichols said the school district is following AHSAA guidelines. Based on AHSAA guidelines and points of emphasis, seating capacity will not be limited or masks required for outdoor events. However, masks will be required for all indoor events.
The number of COVID patients at Madison Hospital rose drastically this week, then fell to end the week near where it was a week ago.
In the latest numbers released by Huntsville Hospital Health Systems (HH) on Friday, Madison Hospital has 33 patients with COVID. Six are in ICU and three are on ventilators. Last Friday there were 30 COVID patients, but that number to rose to 45 by mid-week before dipping back into the 30s.
HH says 291 patients have COVID throughout their system — up from 218 a week ago. Ninety-two of those are in ICU with 43 on ventilators. This includes hospitals in Madison, Limestone, Morgan, Colbert and Franklin counties.
In Madison County alone, there are 156 patients with COVID at HH facilities. A little over week ago, Madison County had 122 COVID patients.
Right now, there are 36 patients in ICU throughout Madison County, up from 29 last Friday, with 27 on ventilators — nearly double from last week.
The Alabama Department of Public Health has some good news on Friday. According to its COVID Dashboard, the rate of new positive cases in Madison County fell by 20.2% over the past seven days.The week started out with 187 new cases reported on Monday. Since then, the numbers have been in steady decline with 74 cases reported on Wednesday and 52 new cases reported on Thursday.
The ADPH also shows there have been five deaths in Madison County due to COVID since July 29.
Limestone County has seen a 3.6% drop in new cases over the past week. They had 27 new cases reported on Thursday.
The graphs below show current COVID cases throughout the Huntsville Hospital Health System.
