Alabama Confirms 494 New Coronavirus Cases, 16 Deaths

MONTGOMERY, AL — Alabama reported about the same number of new COVID-19 cases Tuesday as it did Monday, as the Alabama Department of Public Health reported 494 new cases of the virus overnight.

The state also confirmed 16 deaths from the virus in Tuesday's report.

The ADPH also added 77 probable cases to its total. In all, Alabama has reported 136,549 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 17,005 probable cases.

"Confirmed and probable cases are investigated and contacts identified in the same manner. As more antigen diagnostic testing has been approved under emergency use authorized by FDA, the number of probable cases in Alabama continues to increase," ADPH said in a statement. "More healthcare providers, including physicians' offices, urgent cares, and some emergency rooms, are using antigen testing. Thus, ADPH has revised some charts and graphs on its dashboard to capture the most current situation for COVID-19 in Alabama."

More than 1.1 million diagnostic tests have been administered in the state, and 58,235 antibody tests, according to the ADPH. Of the 136,549 confirmed cases of the virus in Alabama, 64,583 are presumed to have recovered.

"Rapid antigen tests, while diagnostic tests, are counted as probable due to antigen tests showing lower ability to determine if a person has SARS-CoV-2," the ADPH said. "In other words, point of care antigen tests are less sensitive and show more false negative results than laboratory performed PCR tests. Point of care antigen testing can be useful where there are high rates of SARS-CoV-2. As more rapid point of care testing is performed for SARS-CoV-2, ADPH is working to remind entities to report all testing done, both positive and negative, to ensure that ADPH testing numbers reflect accuracy of percent positive testing."

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This article originally appeared on the Birmingham Patch