Virus cases jump in county; another death registered

Marengo County’s COVID-19 cases had been trending down, even registering no new cases on June 3 and 9. The last death attributed to the new coronavirus was May 15.

But cases jumped by 13 over the last two days, now totaling 200 as of Thursday evening, and the county counted another death Wednesday, bringing the number to seven.

The county’s statistics are similar to those of the state. The number of cases grew rapidly about two weeks after Memorial Day, when many people enjoyed being a part of large gatherings with little social distancing or wearing masks. It is believed the incubation period before symptoms set in is 14 days.

Alabama as of Thursday had seen 22,474 cases and 750 deaths from the virus. Only five counties have not had a death attributed to COVID-19.

Testing sites set up in Marengo County have conducted 1,988 tests of suspected infections. Of those 10.06 percent were positive.

The first case in the county was March 26, and the first death, April 8.