DECATUR, Ala. — Decatur and Morgan County leaders said North Alabama is seeing high positivity rates for COVID-19 currently.
"All of North Alabama has a high positivity rate, three of my 12 counties have a positivity rate in excess, of 50%. And so, Morgan County is getting close to that number as well. So, it's not just in Decatur, it's not just in Morgan County, it's a North Alabama issue right now. And so as we're traveling around, this virus doesn't see county lines," Michael Glenn, Alabama Department of Public Health Assistant Administrator for the Northern District.
Just as the virus does not see county lines, it also does not care who you know.
"Just because you know somebody doesn't mean you can't get a virus from them," said Glenn.
Hospitals are overwhelmed, and that has the president of Decatur Morgan Hospital pleading for more help.
"If there's any retired nurses or retired physicians that would like to come back and help, we would love to do that and we would work with you, if you could only work a few hours just to give somebody a break because it is really stressful right now," said Kelli Powers, Decatur Morgan Hospital President.
With the need for more people helping out in hospitals comes the need for more money for those efforts.
"I know money is important, but it's not everything, especially when people are dying in your community. And right now, North Alabama, I think we're seeing a death a day," said Powers.
"I don't foresee these numbers going down any, there's been nothing to allude me to think that anything's going to change over the next four to six weeks if we don't change our behavior. We have the capacity to change this," said Glenn.
And with talk of a vaccine, there are people concerned with taking the vaccine.
"I think when the physicians say that they'll take it, then that really gives me great comfort, that they've studied it and I know we have two physicians already on our staff, highly respected individuals who said I want it when it comes out, so that gives me great comfort knowing they've studied it and they feel good taking it," said Powers.