By Zach Hester, Reporter • zach@southerntorch.com

ALABAMA — According to preliminary data released by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), approximately 1,200 Alabamians have recovered from the novel coronavirus.

In a Facebook post, ADPH stated they would continue to monitor recovered cases. The ADPH COVID-19 Dashboard does not currently include recoveries, due to the difficulty collecting all the necessary elements of recovery from hospitals across the state.

"Alabama is looking at ways to report patients released from quarantine or patients recovered," said ADPH. "However, this will require additional staff time, and, at this moment, staff time must be primarily dedicated to case investigation and contact tracing to contain and reduce the spread of the virus."

As of Monday morning, Alabama had 4,923 confirmed cases of COVID-19 out of 45,712 tested. Of the 164 deaths reported, 113 have been confirmed to be due to the novel coronavirus. 641 Alabamians have been hospitalized since March 13, 2020 with the virus.