MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Senate on Thursday morning passed HB 186 as substituted, a supplemental appropriations bill sponsored by State Rep. Steve Clouse (R-Ozark) and carried in the Senate by State Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore). The vote was 29-0.
The substitute version introduced on the floor by Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) would appropriate $5 million in supplemental state funds to the Alabama Department of Health to be used towards combating the coronavirus. The House then quickly concurred with HB 186 as substituted, sending the bill to the governor’s desk.
This came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday awarded the State of Alabama $8,148,798.90 to help fight the spread of the coronavirus.
As of Thursday at 11:00 a.m., there were no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Yellowhammer State.
Marsh spoke about the disease and the state’s response while presenting the substitute.
He thanked the federal government for the CDC funding and Governor Kay Ivey for establishing a task-force to address the coronavirus.
“I want the public to know that there have been many meetings dealing with the coronavirus and that I feel confident that Alabama has a plan in place to deal with it, including proper screening and testing facilities that will be throughout the state to give proper diagnosis to our citizens,” Marsh said. “I want to emphasize that this disease, in reality, is a very low percentage rate of those who will be affected and actually die from this disease.”
He further stressed the coronavirus’ low fatality rate for those under 50-years-old without preexisting conditions and acknowledged the elevated danger to the elderly population.
“I truly believe that this has been blown out of proportion,” Marsh added. “And part of the problem is that people have not looked prepared. To that point … we have a strong, structured plan setup for the state of Alabama. But it has to be funded.”
Marsh, along with Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed (R-Jasper) and Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro), held a press conference after the bill passed both chambers on Thursday to underline that the state is being proactive and is prepared for the coronavirus.
“Over the past several days legislative leadership has held a series of meetings with the Governor and her Coronavirus Task Force, as well as with health care professionals who are on the front lines of combatting this pandemic,” Reed said in a statement. “It is important to know that we have test kits and tests are being administered and we have excellent health care professionals who are prepared to act.”
“One important thing to note is that we are setting up the ability to contact doctors with telehealth so that next steps can be decided over the phone or video chat to limit the potential of exposure to this illness,” he further advised.
Marsh at the press conference outlined that Alabamians who think they may have the coronavirus should contact their primary care doctor, or alternatively the Alabama Department of Public Health for people without a physician, via phone. The doctor or health department can then set up a remote way to establish if that patient exhibits the symptoms that merit screening. For those who do need to be screened, facilities are being established across the state. That screening will then weed out who needs their samples tested by the Alabama Department of Health or certain private labs. All tests performed by the Department of Health or the private labs will be confirmed by the CDC.
Alabamians should look to the Alabama Department of Health’s website for updated information on the coronavirus.
UPDATE:
HB 186 as substituted was signed into law by the governor on Thursday.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
