Alabama was added to a travel ban list set by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Wednesday as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise.
“Those who have traveled to the following locations need to quarantine for 14 days after arrival in Kansas. This applies to both Kansas residents and those visiting Kansas,” The Kansas department’s website reads.
Alabama joined Arizona and Maryland on that list. Additionally, anyone who’s been on a cruise ship or river cruise, or traveled internationally, must quarantine for 14 days upon return to Kansas.
Alabama added 787 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the sixth highest daily count since the pandemic began. On Thursday, the state added 882 cases, the third highest daily count.
Because of the variations and inconsistencies in the times that labs report totals to ADPH, the Alabama Political Reporter has been tracking seven-day and fourteen-day rolling averages to smooth out the data.
The state’s fourteen-day average of new daily cases on Friday was a record 679, meaning more cases have been recorded over the last 14 days than during any previous 14-day period. At least 9,510 cases have been recorded in the last two weeks. That’s roughly a third of the state’s total case count.
The percent of tests that are positive also remains very high, another indicator that COVID-19 continues to actively spread. The seven-day rolling average of the state’s positivity rate increased by 74 percent in the last two weeks, and was at 11.69 percent on Thursday, the third highest on record.
A steady rise in hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients continues to worry state health officials and physicians as well. Because of the many variables that come with testing and the recording of those test results, hospitalizations are a good indicator that the virus remains active.
Wednesday saw a new high in the number of people in hospitals being treated for COVID-19 — at 688. The previous high was Tuesday at 683. On Friday, state hospitals were treating 674 COVID-19 patients, the third highest since the pandemic began.
