For the first time in its documented history, the state of Alabama recorded more deaths than births in 2020, and state health officials are attributing the population shrinkage to COVID-19. “Our state literally shrunk this year for the first time in history, even going back to World War II, when people were serving overseas; going back to the Spanish Flu epidemic, when we had the flu in our state; going back to World War I,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Saturday. The rate of births in the state has seen an annual decline over the last several years, but the number of COVID deaths, Harris said, is about equal to the gap between deaths and births for last year. The state had 64,714 total deaths and 57,641 total births last year, he said. There were 7,182 deaths from COVID-19 in 2020, according to state health data. “And it’s not a coincidence that that’s about exactly the number of deaths we had from COVID,” Harris said. ‘Wasn’t so sure I was going to make it’:Alabama sheri
source
0