Alabama saw a huge surge in new COVID-19 cases the week leading up to Christmas – and numbers are still on the rise.

New data released by the Alabama Department of Public Health showed the state’s 7-day average for new cases jumped 110% within the last week alone, reaching nearly 1,750 new cases per day as of Monday.

(County by County view / To see the map Click here.)

That’s the highest daily average without a backlog since early October – nearly three months ago.  The ADPH also reported three consecutive days, with at least 2,000 new cases in the days leading up to Christmas – that’s the first time that’s happened, since September.

Hospitalizations are also on the rise in Alabama; topping 500 COVID-19 inpatients in state hospitals on Monday (December 27th) for the first time since October 25th, but current hospitalizations are a fraction of what they were in September.  During the start of the delta surge during the summer,  by the time Alabama reached a 7-day average of 1,750 new cases per day, there were already 1,100 COVID patients in state hospitals.  That number would go on to reach nearly 3,000 patients.  The “Winter Wave” also brought more hospitalizations more quickly at this time last year.  During last year’s holiday surge, cases reached the 1,750 level in November – and  at that time there were around 1,200 people hospitalized with the virus.

It’s still too early to tell whether or not hospitalizations will rise in similar ways this time around, or if omicron – the new variant that’s likely causing the latest surge in cases across the nation – will behave differently.

(AL.COM/www.al.com)