East Alabama residents worry about becoming coronavirus ‘hot spot’ as state cases rise
The number of coronavirus cases in Columbus and Lee County, Alabama, makes it hard to believe neighboring Russell County has only two, given their intimate association.
Residents regularly cross those borders to work, shop and visit family.
The tally of cases continually shifts, day to day. On Thursday, Lee County was reporting 91 COVID-19 cases and Muscogee County had 25. Statewide, Alabama had 1,233 cases out of 8,619 people tested, with 32 deaths. Georgia had 5,348 cases out of 22,957 tested, with 163 deaths.
Mayor Eddie Lowe said people need to realize the virus is in Phenix City, regardless of county by county tallies.
“If it’s in Lee County, it’s here,” he said.
Police Chief Ray Smith confirmed that, noting Phenix City’s northern border extends into Lee County around Pierce Road, off U.S. 280, and at least a “handful” of cases are within city limits.
Russell County Emergency Management Director Bob Franklin agreed, saying he knew at least “a couple” of cases were in that portion of the city.
So, Russell County residents shouldn’t think they’re safe because the local count so far is minimal, said Smith: “People shouldn’t take that low number in Russell County as ‘Oh, it’s OK around here.’”
What they should do is assume whomever they meet is carrying the virus, and act accordingly, the chief said, by following the guidelines health experts have recommended — keeping their distance, washing their hands and sanitizing any surfaces touched.
With clusters of infection increasing among its neighbors, and Russell County caught in the middle, it has to act aggressively to fight the spread of the disease, authorities said.
“We don’t need to become another hot spot,” Smith said.
So the city and county governments have canceled scheduled festivals, limited access to government buildings, held meetings online, instituted new safety measures at the county jail, and sent law enforcement out to break up impromptu gatherings such as pickup ball games and large house parties.
And more stringent measures may follow.
Public access
“It’s just a matter of time before we close altogether,” Probate Judge Alford Harden said of the county courthouse at 1000 Broad St., which some still call the “Mead building” for the paper company that built it.
A few blocks north at 501 14th St., the Russell County Judicial Center that was once called the courthouse already closed to the public. Neighboring Lee County closed all its government buildings to the public starting Tuesday.
So far, Russell County is keeping its courthouse offices open, but it’s allowing only four people to enter at one time to do business, not counting three who can go into the room housing the deed books to research property sales, Harden said.
The courthouse hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT.
The county now is installing a “walk-up window” there so residents have outside access to its tag office, for obtaining or renewing license plates, though renewals can be done online at renewyourtag.com/russell/mv, or by mail for those who got a renewal notice.
Harden said much of the business his office conducts can be done online at www.russellcountyprobate.us.
Both the county and Phenix City have closed parks and other recreation facilities, leaving only walking and jogging trails open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.. “We’ve had some problems with people going to the parks and congregating,” said Mayor Lowe.
Two Easter-themed events had been set at parks. “All of that has been canceled,” Lowe said.
The city has an online link for COVID-19 updates at phenixcityal.us/covid19.
Business adapts
Some business owners who’ve adjusted their operations during the emergency say they’ve been able to carry on.
At Alabama-Georgia Insurance, 1003 13th St., owner Cary Johnson tried something new this week: Closing his doors and using windows to provide walk-up service.
“We just had to move the desks around a little bit,” he said Thursday. Workers also set up tables and chairs outside so no one is right at the window, to maintain a safe space.
“It seems to be working pretty good,” Johnson said, adding customers appreciate his agency’s staying open for in-person service, as many prefer to pay in cash, typically cashing their checks at a bank around the first of each month, paying all their bills then and living off what they have left.
During the first week of the emergency, March 16-20, the business limited the number of customers allowed inside, and asked that no one accompany them. They practiced safe hygiene with hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.
“I only had to kick one customer out,” Johnson said. That was a woman in a surgical mask with an uncontrollable cough, he said. She swore she was not infected with the new coronavirus, but Johnson took no chances. “I’m not a doctor,” he told her. He brought her paperwork out to her car.
The next week, business appeared to be off by half, but the company had been texting customers about upcoming bills, and those texts told them how to pay online. Checking the numbers for April 1, he discovered 30% paid online in 2019, but 50% paid that way this year.
Up the road at 13th Street BBQ, which is off 13th Street at 1310 17th Ave., owner Slay Johnson said take-out orders have kept the restaurant going, though business is not at its usual pace.
From March 23-28, it was down by 20%, he said. “It was OK,” he added, having worried it would drop 40 to 50% or more.
This week it was off by 10%, compared to when the crisis began, but comparing that to last year, he found only a 5% drop, he said, probably because the month started off strong.
“So far, at this point, I have kept everyone on,” he said of his employees. He just had to cut some their hours.
“I feel terrible for the ones that have had to shut down,” he said, and he wonders whether his and other restaurants will be ordered to close, if the pandemic worsens. “I’m looking for it to be shut down,” he said.
He said other barbecue restaurants in Phenix City have reported decent sales, despite the circumstances: “We all keep in touch with each other.”
The jail
At the Russell County Jail, off U.S. 431 South at 307 Prentiss Drive, Sheriff Heath Taylor has tried to use every possible guard against the virus infecting the inmates.
“We’ve done everything we know to do and can think to do to be on the safe side,” he said.
The jail has a capacity of 490, and lately has held from 320 to 340, with daily fluctuations, he said.
Among the steps he has taken:
- Installing ultraviolet air filters on all ventilation systems.
- Suspending jail visitation, but allowing inmates two free calls a week.
- Closing the jail to all but inmates and essential personnel and screening everyone going in.
- Releasing those accused of minor offenses on their own recognizance, to free space.
- Asking law enforcement agencies using the jail to issue summons for misdemeanor offenses other than domestic violence and drunk driving, rather than jailing suspects.
- Quarantining new inmates for 14 days.
- Holding court hearings online via Skype.
Deputies on patrol have been issued hand sanitizer, disinfectant, masks and gloves, Taylor said, and 911 dispatchers now routinely ask callers whether anyone in a home is in quarantine or has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The sheriff’s office has around 140 workers, Taylor said, and he has divided the force so two shifts work 12 hour days one week and then take the next week off, as two more 12-hour shifts fill in. That’s to minimize the number who could be quarantined, should someone become infected, he said.
“We’re doing everything we can,” he said, but they can’t anticipate all possibilities. “There’s going to be something we haven’t thought about.”
The unknown
Everyone’s keenly aware that testing for the coronavirus is limited, and many Russell County residents who sought testing likely went outside the county for it.
Smith, the city police chief, and Franklin, the EMA director, said Russell County has no testing site, only places where samples are collected for testing elsewhere.
Those who work or visit doctors in Columbus would go there for testing. Those who live on the county’s west side would go to Opelika, Franklin said.
With no clear gauge on who could have the virus, or where it might spread, Phenix City police are taking precautions similar to other agencies, issuing gloves, masks and hand sanitizer, and asking those who call police to their homes to step outside, rather than the officers going in.
That protects both residents and officers, Smith noted: The officers may have just visited 15 different places on calls, and could risk contaminating a home if they went in.
A lot of routine police reporting can be done over the telephone, Smith noted. The department number is 334-448-2800.
He said officers now hold their briefings online, sitting in their patrol cars with their laptops. He said he has been in more daily meetings now than ever, but they’re all online, and he feels lucky to have that technology during this crisis.
“I’m quite thankful this didn’t happen 10 years ago,” he said.
One challenge has been to get younger people to grasp the danger. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said he faces the same issue, battling a “cavalier” attitude.
“What we’re really urging people to do is to take this doggone thing seriously,” Jones said.
Smith said that nonchalant attitude is evidenced by the ball games and other gatherings his officers run across: “We’ve had to shut a lot of those down.”
He’s particularly concerned about house parties where dozens of people share food and drinks in close quarters. That’s “extremely dangerous,” he said.
Franklin is worried people won’t alter their conduct when Easter arrives: “We’ve got to get out of hugging people and shaking hands, even if it’s extended family…. We’re on the edge of this curve yet.”
Someone showing no symptoms could carry the infection to a grandparent, he noted. “You may get over it,” he said, “but Grandma may not.”
Shadowing everything is the fear Russell County has far more cases than anyone knows.
Representing the Alabama Department of Public Health, Dr. Karen Landers said no one should speculate on the number of cases, but stick to the guidelines on social distancing and avoiding nonessential work or travel, and call a doctor if symptoms appear, rather than going to a physician’s office or emergency room.
With the lack of testing, Sheriff Taylor wonders what the numbers are worth.
“They’re not testing,” he said, “and if they’re not testing, why keep score?”