Elmore County sees weekend spike in COVID-19 cases

The number of COVID-19 cases since mid-March has topped 20,000, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

As of 12:50 p.m. Sunday, there are cumulatively 20,166 confirmed cases in the state which is an increase of 457 new cases in the last 24 hours.

ADPH said Saturday morning it resolved the "growing pains" it was experiencing in reporting numbers on its dashboard.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (ADPH) and its vendor have resolved issues related to delays in the national surveillance system. Delays affect the number of cases and tested reported on this dashboard," ADPH wrote in a notice on its COVID-19 dashboard. "As a result of a reporting backlog, this dashboard appears to display sizable increases in all numbers. The reason is that there has been a lag time in adding some reports.

"The national surveillance pipeline became overwhelmed earlier this week due to a large increase in the volume of COVID-19 laboratory results. ADPH staff worked tirelessly with CDC and its vendor to resolve the issues as quickly as possible."

There are 334 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 the last 14 days, there have been 5,682 new confirmed cases with 84,475 tests given. 

Elmore County's case count increased by 10, now at 411 confirmed cases with 10 COVID-19 deaths. Elmore County has the 12th-most cases in the state and added 30 new cases since Friday.

There are 11 probable cases in Elmore County and zero probable deaths. Elmore County has seen 151 new cases of 1,622 tested in the last two weeks, according to ADPH.

Tallapoosa County, which has the 11th-most cases in the state, added three new cases, now at 442 confirmed cases with 66 confirmed COVID-19 deaths. Tallapoosa County still ranks No. 3 for most deaths in the state. There are five probable cases in Tallapoosa County and zero probable deaths.

ADPH's 14-day count-specific data shows Tallapoosa County has seen 46 new cases and 801 tested in the last two weeks. 

Coosa County is still at 40 confirmed cases with one confirmed death. There are no probable deaths or cases. There have been seven new cases and 84 tested in the last two weeks, according to ADPH.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 259,232 tests performed throughout the state, according to ADPH. A total of 326 have been tested in Coosa County, 4,109 in Elmore County and 2,986 in Tallapoosa County.

Statewide, there have been 685 deaths due to COVID-19 and four 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.

There have been 2,022 hospitalizations across the state since March 13, according to ADPH.

According to ADPH's presumed recoveries category, which will be updated weekly and was updated Wednesday evening, 11,395 people 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."

Since March 13, there have been 615 patients in intensive care units and 364 on a ventilator. In the medical field, 2,398 healthcare workers in hospitals and doctors' offices have tested positive. When it comes to long-term care facilities, 1,103 employees and 1,801 residents have tested positive for COVID-19. 

All data can be viewed here.

Here is the latest information for each county as of 12:50 p.m. Sunday (listed in order of counties with most confirmed cases first):