High rate of Alabama COVID-19 deaths contributes to hospitalization drop

Montgomery Advertiser

This undated photo provided Dec. 14 by the University of Alabama Birmingham shows the inside of UAB Hospital's COVID-19 intensive care unit.

Though COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alabama have fallen from their late summer peak, the drop is partially attributable to a "really high rate" of deaths occurring daily, State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Friday.

Alabama hospitals on Thursday reported 2,223 total COVID-19 patients, including 53 children. Hospitalizations neared 3,000 earlier this summer. Harris said the drop in cases is, on one hand, a good sign.

But much of the decrease is due to sustained high numbers of daily deaths, with hospitals across the state reporting up to "40, 50, 60 deaths a day," Harris said. As of Thursday, Alabama hospitals reported 546 suspected COVID-19 deaths in the previous 10 days, more than 50 deaths per day on average.

"Unfortunately, patients are dying from COVID in our hospitals despite our best efforts," said UAB's Dr. Sarah Nafziger this week.

Deaths are considered a "lagging indicator," which means they typically spike after a hospitalizations. Alabama hospitals report suspected daily deaths to the Alabama Department of Public Health, which investigates each before officially confirming the deaths in their own data.

Despite the ongoing decrease in hospitalizations, the current COVID wave continues to slam hospital and medical resources across the state, with the Alabama Hospital Association reporting Thursday a net negative 11 ICU bed capacity.

"We still have more patients requiring critical care than critical beds," Harris said. "It's better than it's been, but it still means we don't have any available ICU beds in Alabama. It's a problem for people with non-COVID illnesses."

Local hospital assessments are ongoing to determine if additional federal assistance is needed. Three federal medical teams have deployed to Alabama this summer, with a Navy team currently on the ground in Dale County to assist with a rural hospital overwhelmed with patients.

Nearly all hospitals are feeling the brunt of the current wave amid an ongoing staffing crisis, which the state is trying to assuage with a influx of travel nurses, paid via federal COVID relief funds.

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Many hospitals this month requested federal assistance, but there aren't enough resources to fill every need, Harris said.

At UAB, new case numbers indicate the surge is on the decline, but the hospital is currently caring for more critically ill patients now than previously in the surge. UAB continues to limit and delay some surgeries and medical procedures to increase capacity in their critical care units. The hospital is currently housing critically ill patients in operation recovery rooms, and critically ill patients are waiting in ERs longer as they wait for a bed.

"This has been a tremendously difficult surge," Nafziger said.