SYLACAUGA, Ala. – Alabama now has over 100 reported deaths stemming from the Coronavirus, but not all have been confirmed as “died from illness” by health officials.
So what is the difference between “reported deaths” and “died from illness”?
The Alabama Department of Public Health says “reported deaths” and “died from illness” represent the number of individuals who have a positive lab result and are now deceased. To count a person who died from COVID-19 disease, the medical record of the deceased person has to be reviewed by a physician and Infectious Disease and Outbreak staff. Once review is complete, if the death is attributed to COVID-19, the individual will also appear in Died From Illness. Reported Death totals are cumulative and will never decrease.
The ADPH dashboard shows 105 people have been reported dead while 73 have been confirmed dead from COVID-19.
The state has conducted over 33,000 tests and over 3,800 have been confirmed positive.
On Monday, Talladega Co. reported its first death among its confirmed 38 cases. Tallapoosa Co. has over 100 confirmed cases and seven reported deaths.
