WATCH: UAB Hospital reports record high in COVID-19 patients

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Following Thanksgiving weekend, UAB Hospital reported a record high in COVID-19 patients.

UAB Hospital reported Monday that it was treating 125 inpatients who tested positive for the virus, representing a nearly 60% increase week over week. Last Monday, UAB was caring for 79 COVID-19 patients.

According to UAB doctors, these numbers indicate a wide community-based spread in Birmingham and Alabama. State department numbers on Monday corroborated this conclusion, as they reported that 1,717 people in Alabama were hospitalized with COVID-19. This number represents a record high for the number of people in state hospitals with COVID-19.

Today at 10 a.m., Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., director of UAB’s Division of Infectious Diseases, will discuss the implications of the rise in case numbers, what the public can expect in the days and weeks to come, and the concerns she and other public health officials share related to the dramatic uptick in hospitalizations across the state.