Pat Duggins

Alabama now has two hundred and forty two (updated) confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The Alabama Department of Public Health will be holding a meeting on who should be tested for COVID-19. The discussion with healthcare providers may result in adjusting the guidelines for who should undergo a test for the illness. The State changed its process three weeks ago, so any doctor could ask for a test. Dr. Scott Harris is Alabama’s State Health Officer. He says the old system based the testing decision on CDC regulations.

Alabama is reporting three additional cases of the new Coronavirus, bringing the State's total to 196 (updated.)  This word comes as another state vehicle factory prepares to close and officials try to clarify new rules limiting contact between people. State health officials say Alabama's total number of confirmed cases rose to 106 Friday, up from 78 a day earlier. Mercedes-Benz says it's temporarily closing its plant near Tuscaloosa starting next week. And the governor's office says a new rule limiting gatherings to 25 people or less doesn't apply to work-related groups.

Alabama's caseload of Coronavirus now stands at 78. Governor Kay Ivey’s action to close Alabama beaches follows similar action by the City of Gulf Shores. The State’s biggest beachside community ordered its beaches closed yesterday to hold off the spread of the Coronavirus. The move by Gulf Shores to close its beaches was quickly followed by Orange Beach and Dauphin Island. The Baldwin County Commission voted to also close county access.

As Alabama health officials deal with seventy eight confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in the State, a new online project seeks to bring the lessons of the U.S. civil rights movement to students. The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University unveiled Selma Online this month​. It's a free, online teaching platform that aims to transform how the civil rights movement is taught in middle and high schools.

Alabama has ordered the closures of day cares, beaches and on-site dining in restaurants as the state tries to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. Gov. Kay Ivey announced the order, which expands an order to all sixty-seven counties that had previously been in place for six counties surrounding Birmingham. The order lasts until April fifth. Alabama's largest coastal city, Gulf Shores, had already announced the closure of public beaches because throngs of young people on spring break were ignoring rules meant to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.

Alabama is postponing its Republican U.S. Senate runoff race between Jeff Sessions and former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville because of the Coronavirus. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey says the runoff is being rescheduled to July 14th because it's too risky for voters to go to the polls and stand in line right now. The winner will face Democratic U.S. Sen. Doug Jones in November. The Hyundai automobile plant in Montgomery is closed after a worker tested positive for the Coronavirus.

Alabama health officials now confirm 196 (updated) cases of the Coronavirus in the state. A concern was also raised about blood shortages. The American Red Cross has cancelled close to two thousand blood drives. This has prompted the State to ask potentials donors to keep donating, and that blood banks sanitize their facilities. Health officials in Alabama are also making suggestions on what to do if someone thinks they have the Coronavirus. The illness has symptoms similar to the flu, including fever, body aches, and nausea. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo* is director of infectious diseases at UAB.

Medical marijuana legislation that would allow people to be prescribed marijuana for fifteen medical conditions, is headed to its first vote in the Alabama Legislature. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on the bill Wednesday and could vote the same day. The bill by Republican Senator Tim Melson would allow people to be prescribed medical marijuana for certain conditions, including cancer, anxiety and chronic pain, and to purchase cannabis products at a dispensary licensed by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission.

Inmate homicides are on the rise in Alabama's prisons despite a national spotlight on its corrections system. Prison system statistics show eleven incidents where one inmate killed another during the last fiscal year. Prison system reports show that's more than any recent year. The rise in inmate homicides comes despite a national spotlight on Alabama prisons and state officials' promises for improvement. The Justice Department has threatened to sue the state over its violent prisons. A federal judge also ordered the state to add a many as two thousand corrections officers.

Researchers with the University of South Alabama are the first to sign onto a study of West Nile virus. The school says genetic material from infected mosquitoes will be sent to Yale University's school of public health. Workers there will sequence DNA to help understand how the virus and spread and changed over the last two decades in the United States. Back in September, the Alabama Department of Public Health confirmed one human case of West Nile in the state, as well as two infected horses. The virus killed nearly 170 people nationwide last year.

Alabama's star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa dislocated his hip, late in the first half of the Crimson Tide's game against Mississippi State. Tide medical staff says it's a season ending injury. Tagovailoa was injured after a scramble when he was tackled from behind by Bulldogs linebacker Leo Lewis. Tagovailoa needed help getting to his feet and was carted off the field with 3:01 left in the second quarter. The junior had been nursing an ankle injury that needed surgery four weeks ago and caused him to miss a game and a half.

The Alabama Crimson Tide's path to the playoffs appears uncertain following Saturday’s forty six to forty one loss to LSU. President Trump and the first lady watched the game from a skybox on the thirty five yard line. They witnessed what head coach Nick Saban called the worst first half for the Tide this season with blown coverage and dropped balls by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and kicker Ty Perine. Alabama Wide Receiver Henry Ruggs says having Trump in stands wasn’t a distraction in the Tide’s loss to LSU.

TUSCALOOSA—

TODAY—CLOUDY WITH A HIGH AROUND EIGHTY. SLIGHT RAIN CHANCE

TONIGHT—CLOUDY WITH A LOW IN THE MID SIXTIES. SLIGHT RAIN CHANCE

MOBILE—

TODAY— CLOUDY WITH A HIGH IN THE MID EIGHTIES. SLIGHT RAIN CHANCE

TONIGHT—CLEAR WITH A LOW AROUND SEVENTY. SLIGHT RAIN CHANCE

HUNTSVILLE—

TODAY—RAINY WITH A HIGH IN THE UPPER SEVENTIES. SLIGHT RAIN CHANCE

TONIGHT—SOME RAIN WITH A LOW IN THE LOW SIXTIES. SLIGHT RAIN CHANCE

SELMA—

TODAY-- RAINY WITH A HIGH IN THE UPPER SEVENTIES. SLIGHT RAIN CHANCE

Tropical Storm Nestor is bearing down on the northern Gulf Coast with high winds, surging seas and heavy rains. Forecasters expect blustery winds and heavy rain in parts of Alabama, Georgia and northern Florida, reaching the Carolinas and Virginia by Sunday. The system is threatening to hit an area of the Florida Panhandle that was devastated one year ago by Hurricane Michael. That earlier storm left thousands of people homeless and nearly wiped the Panhandle city of Mexico Beach off the map. By contrast, Florida doesn’t appear to be bracing for a catastrophe.

The DCH Hospital system in west central Alabama may be accepting new patients as soon as Monday after resolving a ransomware attack. The Associated Press and the Tuscaloosa News report the three-hospital network paid a ransom to a hacker over the weekend to get a key to unlock its system. Since the Tuesday attack, DCH hospitals in Tuscaloosa, Northport, and Fayette had to resort to paper medical records. The hospitals also had to stop taking all but the most critically ill patients. Everyone else was funneled to hospitals in Birmingham and Mississippi.

The Deep South states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi are among nine states where at least one third of adults are obese. Those findings are included in a national report by the nonpartisan Trust for America's Health. The group focuses on the health problems associated with obesity. Mississippi tied with West Virginia in 2018 for highest level of adult obesity in the nation at 40%. Louisiana ranked fourth with nearly 37% of adults obese. Alabama was in sixth place, with just over 36% for its adult obesity rate. Other U.S.

A former director of the National Hurricane Center is among those criticizing the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration over its backing of President Trump and his assertion that Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama.

Former National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read blasted NOAA leadership Friday night on his Facebook page calling the situation "so disappointing" and saying he would comment because NOAA employees were ordered to be quiet.

A University of Alabama researcher will team up with at Michigan State University to study the relationship between the size of heat waves and what causes them across the United States. David Keellings is an assistant professor of geography at the University of Alabama. He was recently awarded a three-year, $340,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The goal of the grant is to develop models to help predict when and where heat waves will occur. Heat waves have become larger and more severe in the past 60 years.