EVENING UPDATE: Alabama now at 5,825 cases of COVID-19, 197 deaths

ALABAMA (WRBL) – Alabama’s number of coronavirus cases is still creeping higher as testing expands across the U.S. and the spread of COVID-19 continues.

As of 5:45 p.m. CST/ 6:45 EST p.m. Thursday, Alabama has a total of 5,825 cases of COVID-19, the state adding 148 new cases since noon.

The number of deaths for Alabama remains at 197.

Lee County is now at 340 cases of COVID-19, the county adding nine new cases since noon.

Chambers County has added three new cases of the virus since noon, the total now at 274 cases of the virus.

Russell County now has 54 cases, with one new case since noon.

Barbour County also adding one new cases since noon, the total for the county now at 30 cases.

An Auburn assitant professor received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a biosensor to rapidly detect COVID-19 in patients who may have the virus.

The live-updating dashboard from the ADPH shows a total of 768 Alabamians have been hospitalized for treatment of coronavirus, to date.

The ADPH has not created a centralized database in their COVID-19 Dashboard to show the recovery numbers across the state.