TRUTH: The Alabama coronavirus numbers presented in the opening paragraph appear to be way off.
We are nowhere near 5,000 deaths. In fact, we currently have only 4,700 total cases and 113 deaths. Tuscaloosa County has yet to experience a single death. DCH reports five or fewer inpatients in the ICU (they will only report units of five to protect privacy) being treated for COVID-19 with five or fewer on ventilators.
Again, every such patient is significant, but we are thankful the numbers are so small. While we recognize some may feel those numbers are smaller due to social distancing and/or shelter in place orders, COVID-19 numbers have not been affected by those behaviors when compared to countries where they were not employed.