With intensive care units filling fast and COVID-19 case numbers surging across the state, doctors and public health workers in Birmingham asked Alabamians to take the virus seriously and be as cautious as possible and limit the size of Christmas celebrations.
“I want to make a plea to the community,” said Dr. Mark Wilson, Jefferson County health officer, in an online press conference Friday with doctors from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “We’re in the holiday season. We understand that sacrifice is needed for success.
“This year, I ask that you make just one more sacrifice. Please have a Christmas celebration with family just inside your household.”
On Wednesday, the Jefferson County Health Department reported that there were only 13 available ICU beds in the county. The Alabama Hospital Association on Thursday reported that only 7 percent of ICU beds were available statewide, and none in Montgomery.
Wilson said