阿拉巴马州蒙哥马利。-比利·博伊德在周六早上参加了一个亲戚的葬礼，这个亲戚在感染了新病毒后去世了冠状病毒当他接到有消息的电话时。他的兄弟也从COVID-19那里去世了。

“病毒是真实的。这是真的。如果他们不知道这是真的，他们可以和我一起去墓地，”博伊德说，他是蒙哥马利一个停车场的主人。

阿拉巴马州和大部分深南方地区的冠状病毒病例正在激增，因为一些人已经不再理会该病毒的警告，这让公众感到担忧健康因为COVID-19而失去亲人的官员和人们。过去两周，阿拉巴马州的人均新增病例数位居全国第二。南卡罗来纳州名列第四。路易斯安那州和密西西比州也位列前十。

“我们非常关注这些数字。阿拉巴马州卫生官员斯科特·哈里斯说:“我们知道，如果这种情况继续下去，我们将会看到更多人住院，更多人死亡。”。

截至周六，阿拉巴马州有超过29，000例COVID-19确诊病例，超过四分之一的病例是在过去两周内报告的。

预先存在的组合健康该地区的条件和有限的医疗服务，以及公众对卫生官员关于疾病的建议的怀疑，使控制病毒的尝试变得复杂。

UAB医学院院长塞尔温·维克斯博士说，南方有很高的糖尿病、肾病、心脏病和高血压的发病率，所有这些疾病都使人们面临COVID-19较差结果的风险。

但是维克斯说人类行为是对抗疾病最困难的方面。

“当你打开门，看看海滩，看看餐馆，看看选择不做面具的城市，或者不做面具的人，...我会说我们的行为给我们带来了最大的挑战，”维克斯说。

维克斯说，不戴口罩保护自己的人应该“考虑担心传染给别人。”

州众议员梅里卡·科尔曼希望人们注意这些警告。

她的大家庭在三月从全国各地来到阿拉巴马参加葬礼——当时该州几乎没有冠状病毒病例——并利用这段时间一起回忆、欢笑和哭泣。在接下来的几周和几个月里，11名家庭成员的COVID-19检测呈阳性，5名——包括3名参加聚会的——死于该病。

“我们的家庭会不一样。...我不想让别人知道。我不想让任何人有我这样的感觉。科尔曼说:“我不想让其他任何人经历我的家人所经历的一切。

科尔曼说，她无法相信她在阵亡将士纪念日从海滩社交媒体上看到的人群，甚至在她自己的社区。

“现在困扰我的是，人们的运作方式就像COVID被取消了一样，好像它已经不在了，”她说。

基拉·波特也有同样的担忧，她在东阿拉巴马州的家中有三名成员被COVID-19夺去了生命。

今年春天，她的父亲、姐姐和表妹都在一周内去世了。他们在同一天被埋葬了。

波特说，她的家人很早就意识到冠状病毒的风险，采取预防措施，为中国人民祈祷。病毒还是找到了他们。

当她的父亲和姐姐走进医院时，他们立即被隔离，家人再也没有和他们说话。他们甚至没有机会通过电话说再见。

“这是最痛苦的部分，”波特说。“我们从来没有机会握着他们的手，说再见，说我们爱他们。”

五月，阿拉巴马州允许商业和餐馆开业。哈里斯说，他认为那些渴望回归正常生活的人没有采取足够的预防措施。他说，案件数量的大幅上升发生在阵亡将士纪念日集会后的几周，戴上面具似乎仍是命中注定。

哈里斯说:“我们仍然每天从公众那里得到一些信息，这些人认为我们是出于某种邪恶的目的制造了一些骗局。”。

前州卫生官员、现任阿拉巴马医院协会主席唐·威廉姆森博士说，医院目前正在管理，但趋势令人担忧。

“这是你第一天听到我说这些话:我现在很担心，”威廉森说。“我担心病毒现在就在我们面前，我们作为个人没有做足够的工作来遏制它。”

威廉森说，只有大约16%的重症监护室床位是空的，在像蒙哥马利这样的一些地区，“我们基本上没有”

新的冠状病毒对有色人种造成了不成比例的伤害，比如波特和科尔曼的家庭。非裔美国人占阿拉巴马州人口的24%，但却占该州COVID-19死亡人数的44%。

维克斯说，多种因素导致了这种差异，包括先前存在的条件、获得初级医疗保健的机会、住房密度以及不允许在家工作的一线职业。

阿拉巴马州的首府蒙哥马利成为社区传播的热点，促使市长发布行政命令，要求公众戴口罩。这项措施在蒙哥马利市议会的投票中以平局告终，因为一些议员对侵犯个人自由表示担忧。

波特和科尔曼说，人们不应该认为这不会发生在他们身上。

波特说:“它袭击了我们几乎一半的家庭，带走了其中的三个人。”。

Rise in coronavirus cases brings new concerns in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- William Boyd was at the funeral Saturday morning for a relative who had died after contracting the new coronavirus when he got the call with the news. His brother had also passed away from COVID-19.

“The virus is real. It’s real. If they don’t know it’s real, they can come and walk with me to the cemetery,” said Boyd, the owner of a Montgomery car lot.

Alabama and much of the Deep South are seeing a spike in coronavirus cases as some have stopped heeding warnings of the virus, alarming public health officials and people who have lost loved ones because of COVID-19. Over the past two weeks, Alabama had the second highest number of new cases per capita in the nation. South Carolina was fourth. Louisiana and Mississippi were also in the top 10.

“We are extremely concerned about these numbers. We know if they continue, we will see more hospitalizations and more deaths,” Alabama State Health Officer Scott Harris said.

As of Saturday, Alabama had more than 29,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with more than a quarter of the cases reported in the last two weeks.

The combination of preexisting health conditions and limited health care access in the region, along with pockets of public skepticism about health officials' advice on the illness, complicate attempts to manage the virus.

Dr. Selwyn Vickers, dean of the UAB School of Medicine, said the South has high rates of diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and high blood pressure — all illnesses that put people at risk for poorer outcomes with COVID-19.

But Vickers said human behavior is the most difficult aspect of fighting the disease.

“When you open the doors and you look at the beaches, you look at the restaurants and you look at cities that choose not to do masks, or individuals who don't, ... I would say our behaviors create the biggest challenge for us," Vickers said.

Vickers said people who won't wear a mask for their own protection should "think about worrying about infecting someone else."

State Rep. Merika Coleman wants people to heed the warnings.

Her extended family had come to Alabama from across the country for a funeral in March — a time when the state had few coronavirus cases — and used the time together to reminisce, laugh and weep. In the weeks and months that followed, 11 family members tested positive for COVID-19 and five — including three who had been at the gatherings — died from the illness.

“Our family won't be the same. ... I don’t want it to be anybody else. I don’t want anybody else to feel the way I feel. I don’t want anybody else to go through what my family has gone through,” Coleman said.

Coleman said she could not believe the large crowds she saw on Memorial Day from social media images from the beach, and even in her own neighborhood.

“What is bothering me right now is people are operating like COVID has been canceled, like it's not there anymore," she said.

Kyra Porter, who lost three members of her east Alabama family to COVID-19, has the same fears.

Her father, sister and cousin all died within a week this spring. They were buried on the same day.

Porter said her family was tuned in early to the risks of coronavirus, taking precautions and praying for the people of China. The virus found them anyway.

When her father and sister went into the hospital, they were immediately put in isolation and the family never spoke to them again. They didn't even get a chance to say goodbye by phone.

“That’s the most hurting part,” Porter said. “We never got a chance to hold their hand, say goodbye and say that we love them.”

In May, Alabama allowed businesses and restaurants to open. Harris said he thinks people, who were understandably craving a return to normal life, did not take enough precautions. He said the large upswing in cases comes a few weeks after Memorial Day gatherings and that mask-wearing continues to seem hit or miss.

“We still get communication from the public every day from people who think we created some hoax for some nefarious purpose,” Harris said.

Dr. Don Williamson, a former state health officer who now heads the Alabama Hospital Association says hospitals are managing for now but the trends are worrying.

“This is the first day you’ll hear me say these words: I am now worried,” Williamson said. “I am worried that the virus is now ahead of us and we aren’t doing enough as individuals to contain it.”

Williamson said only about 16% of total ICU beds are empty, and in some areas like Montgomery “we essentially have none.”

The new coronavirus has taken a disproportionate toll on people of color, like the families of Porter and Coleman. African Americans make up 24% of Alabama’s population but have accounted for 44% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.

Vickers said multiple factors have contributed to the disparity, including preexisting conditions, access to primary health care, housing density and front-line occupations that don't allow working at home.

Alabama's capital, Montgomery, has emerged as a hot spot for community transmission, prompting the mayor to issue an executive order requiring face masks in public crowds. The measure failed on a tie vote when it went before the Montgomery City Council as some members expressed concerns about the infringement on personal liberties.

Porter and Coleman said people shouldn't think it can't happen to them.

“It hit almost half of our family and took three of them out," Porter said.