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During the noon hour on Tuesday, a statewide moment of silence to remember the lives of Alabamians lost to Covid-19 in the past 18 months. At EAMC, EAMC-Lanier and other hospitals throughout the state, employees, physicians and others paused to remember those lives and pray for those currently suffering with Covid, the healthcare workers caring for them and the families of all involved.

“We appreciate the Alabama Hospital Association coordinating this moment of silence across the state today,” stated East Alabama Health President and CEO Laura Grill. “With hospitals under so much pressure right now, it was nice to be able to have a brief time to reflect.

“We took time today to acknowledge the 12,420 lives lost in Alabama – and the 273 lives lost here – but we also briefly celebrated the more than 1,800 patients who we have successfully treated at East Alabama Health and then discharged home to recover,” said Grill. “It’s important that our employees and physicians are reminded of the success stories we’ve had, especially during this tough time. We hope today serves as a reminder of the support we should all be providing each other amid the struggles of Covid-19. There’s no substitute for kindness and grace.”

Of the 273 deaths at East Alabama Health, Grill explained that more than 30 have occurred since August 1, with the vast majority being unvaccinated patients. “Many of these recent lives lost could have been prevented by simply being vaccinated,” she said. “It’s extremely upsetting that we still have so many people who are willing to risk their very lives rather than accept a free vaccine that basically assures them of a less severe illness from the virus. It’s especially hard for our employees and physicians to continually hear the voices of regret from patients and families when they know they must face the reality of a possible death.”

At 3 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, the Alabama Department of Public Health dashboard indicated that Alabama had a total of 2,672 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 every day. There was a total of 2,776 confirmed Covid-19 admitted patients on Tuesday. By contrast, Alabama had only 179 Covid-19 patients on July 3.

Of the 2,776 hospitalized patients, 52 children and 813 are in intensive care units, with 610 on ventilators. Some 75 percent of those in ICUs are on ventilators. More than 50 percent of all patients in ICUs right now are Covid positive.

There were 59 Covid-19 related deaths in the state on Monday. In the past ten days, there have been a total of 503 deaths.