Special Report

This is How Many People Have Died From COVID-19 in Alabama

Samuel Stebbins

Published: July 21, 2021 4:30 am

Since the first death attributable to COVID-19 was reported in the United States on Feb. 29, 2020, an estimated 603,170 Americans have died — and that number still continues to grow.

Adjusting for population, there have been a total of 184 COVID-19-related deaths for every 100,000 Americans nationwide. In Alabama, deaths attributable to the coronavirus per capita are even more common than they are nationwide. Across the state, 11,437 people have died from the coronavirus, equal to about 234 deaths for every 100,000 people. Of all states — and Washington D.C. — Alabama has the seventh highest death rate per capita.

Any number of factors contribute to variations in COVID-19 fatalities per capita across the United States. One of them is the per capita infection rate. Just as the number of deaths attributable to the virus per capita is higher in Alabama than it is nationwide, COVID-19 infections per capita are too.

To date, there have been 557,575 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Alabama, equal to 11,407 infections per 100,000 people — compared to 10,283 infections per 100,000 people nationwide.

Though it is not always the case, states with higher than average COVID-19 deaths per capita are often also home to larger high-risk populations. One such group is retirement-age Americans, who are at least 90 times more likely to die from the virus if infected than those in the 18 to 29 age group. In Alabama, 17.4% of the population are 65 and older. Nationwide, 16.5% of the population fall into that age group.

All COVID-19 data used in the story is current as of July 16, 2021.

These are all the counties in Alabama where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).