Special to the Enquirer

Morgan County has been labeled “very high risk” for the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to the latest information released by the Alabama Department of Public Health.

According to the ADPH, only eight counties have not been labeled “very high risk,” as the statewide vaccination rate hovers at 33.9 percent: Lamar, Pickens, Sumter, Choctaw, Marengo, Perry, Bullock and Cleburne.

Alabama’s statewide percent positivity for COVID-19 has increased to its highest level since February 2021, 7.7 percent. This is equal to the percent positivity recorded April 3, 2021, when vaccines had not yet been made readily available, according to a ADPH update July 15.

According to the ADPH, confirmed cases and hospitalizations have both increased since the end of June/beginning of July. As of July 14, 341 persons were reported hospitalized as a result of the virus, as opposed to 179 July 3.

More than 11,000 Alabamians have died from the virus since March 2020.

“So long as Alabama has such low rates of vaccination, cases will continue to rise, posing risk of illness and death from COVID-19, as well as threatening the ability of our healthcare system to treat all Alabamians,” the ADPH said in a statement.