COVID-19 cases continue to rise within local area

Published 3:49 pm Tuesday, June 23, 2020

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The pandemic is still a reality. At the Brewton City Council meeting, City Spokesperson Chief Jeff Salter provided an update regarding the city and the coronavirus (COVID-19).
“Since we reopened June 1st, we kind of expected the cases to rise and they definitely have. The last week or so, the state of Alabama and the county spiked pretty good,” said Salter.
Comparing the current numbers to past weeks, Salter said that the number was expected to rise. “Couple of weeks ago, 3 or 4 weeks ago, before we reopened the city or the state reopened businesses, I think our county was at 33 cases and now we are at 158 cases.
There’s probably going to be more tests and you know communities and businesses opening up, people gathering in large crowds, it is to be expected and we can continue to expect it to rise more in the future,” shared Salter.
Salter made note of the new cases diagnosed in the last 14 days.
“The state over the last 14 days, the state has had around 8,000 cases close to 9,000 cases. So, it is a lot more than it was back in May and before that and again it is from opening businesses and people going to the beaches and restaurants opening so it is to be expected,” he explained.
Locally, the city preparations for the virus remain strong. “City-wide as far as PPE, I got some masks today for our employees. We’re not having any trouble finding masks or gloves for our employees to wear. So that’s a good thing and we encourage all employees to wear masks all the time if they can while they work and we’ll continue to do that,” said Salter.
Emphaszing the need to practice good hygiene, Salter encouraged all residents to continue to wash hands.
“I know my guys do a pretty good job of cleaning hands all day long.
We just got to keep doing what we are doing,” he said.
Within the city limits, cases are on the uphill slope.
“Over the last 4 or 5 days, here in the city, there’s been numerous cases pop up. Numerous positives, we got around 30 people within the city limits or right in the surrounding area in Brewton since Friday,” explained Salter.
Included in the number are two city employees.
WIth the rising cases, Salter warned the council and citizens about the potential risk. He commented, “We are going to have to watch it. This is something we are going to have to prepare for because Brewton may take a pretty good hit on this when it is all said and done.”
In response to Salter’s presentation, Mayor Yank Lovelace stressed the need to follow health guidelines set out by the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Although the city council doesn’t have the authority to order people to wear masks, we certainly urge people to wear masks and wash their hands and use hand sanitizer. This may last a year or more and we just have to be prepared for it,” said Lovelace.