Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é

The coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire across the state. Every county in Alabama is considered to be at a high level of transmission and hospitals are seeing the highest number of COVID inpatients since January. 

About 5% of the state's ICU beds are available because of the recent spike. So, hospitals are adjusting some of their visitation policies to keep everyone safe. 

Huntsville Hospital actually saw a drop in numbers in Madison County since Friday. The hospital's President, Tracy Doughty, said it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to stay that way.

“One blimp doesn’t make a trend so we want to continue to monitor over the next week to see how it goes," Doughty said. 

On Sunday, Huntsville Hospital had 143 COVID patients in Madison County. That's 13 fewer patients compared to Friday. However, Doughty said they're seeing incredibly sick patients.

"It's out and it's real," said Doughty.

On Sunday, there were 39 patients in the ICU and 30 patients on a ventilator. That's three more patients in the ICU and three more on ventilators than 2 days prior.

Doughty noted that not everyone who gets the virus will get hospitalized. He warned that just because you might not get incredibly sick, doesn't mean someone you love won't.

"We have 143 people in Madison County that will tell you that, they’re in the hospital right now to tell you that you can get sick and you can have rare respiratory issues, enough where you can’t breathe, it’s like you’re smothering," Doughty explained.

He said the hospital staff is optimistic things could finally be turning around, but they will be monitoring the number of cases next week to see if we are really on a downward trend.