More than a dozen Mobile first responders have tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, city officials confirmed during a Wednesday press briefing. Mobile’s Executive Director of Public Safety, James Barber, said nine police officers and seven firefighters returned positive results on a rapid serum blood test designed to detect whether a person’s immune system has begun fighting the virus.
Unlike a nasal swab test, which identifies an active infection, the antibody test shows whether a person’s body has mounted, or already mounted, a defense against COVID-19. All 16 first responders are also being tested via nasal swab and have been placed on paid leave while results are confirmed, Barber said.
Only one of the 16 has shown symptoms, and those were described as mild. Neither Barber nor Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson had been tested for the virus as of the briefing.
Health officials say asymptomatic spread remains one of the most difficult aspects of controlling the pandemic. Dr. Brian Sumrall of Pulmonary Associates told reporters that an estimated 25 to 50 percent of infected patients show no symptoms at all, yet can still transmit the virus to others, underscoring the importance of continued social distancing and hand hygiene.
“The city seems to be doing a great job with social distancing,” Sumrall said. “We need to keep this up. Everyone needs to keep it up.”
Mayor Stimpson used the briefing to clarify his executive order limiting the number of shoppers allowed inside grocery stores and big-box retailers at one time. After personally visiting a Lowe’s, a Home Depot and a Walmart in west Mobile, Stimpson said he was encouraged by what he saw.
“I was surprised at what I saw,” he said. “Everybody in there had between 6 and 8 feet between them.”
Stimpson said a Home Depot manager told him the store “endorses and embraces” the order, which caps store occupancy at 40 percent of a building’s fire capacity. The rule, which took effect at 7 a.m. Thursday, April 2, does not apply to pharmacies or small, independently owned shops. Mobile Fire-Rescue personnel are familiar with the fire capacity of buildings throughout the city, Stimpson said, and store managers with questions about their occupancy limits were encouraged to contact MFRD directly.
City officials also announced that limited COVID-19 testing would begin Thursday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, with University Hospital staff running a trial of the testing process. Barber said the site would initially prioritize symptomatic first responders, hospital workers and other vulnerable populations before opening to the general public. Officials said they were moving cautiously to avoid overwhelming the region’s testing labs, citing problems that arose in the Birmingham area when demand outpaced lab capacity.
Despite the public health crisis, Barber noted a silver lining on the crime front: overall crime in Mobile is down 9 percent compared to the same period last year, and calls for service have dropped 12 percent, a trend he attributed in part to fewer people out in public during the pandemic.
Update: Total climbs to 33, first active case confirmed
By Friday, April 3, the number of Mobile first responders with positive antibody results had more than doubled. Barber confirmed at a follow-up press conference that 33 of the city’s first responders, 23 police officers and 10 firefighters, had tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies out of more than 800 rapid serum tests administered. One of the 33 has since tested positive for the active disease via a nasal or throat swab, becoming the first confirmed active case among the group.
All 33 employees have also been given swab tests to determine whether they are currently contagious, though not all of those results had come back as of Friday. Barber said all 33 remain quarantined until their swab results confirm they are no longer able to spread the virus. He did not disclose how many of the swab tests had come back negative. The vast majority of the 33 first responders with positive antibody results have shown no symptoms, Barber said, with only one reporting very mild symptoms.
The update came as Mobile County surpassed the 100-case mark, reaching 103 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. The 33 first responders are counted separately from that total. ADPH reported five deaths in the county, though only four had been confirmed at the time. Baldwin County reported 28 cases and one death, while statewide totals stood at 1,495 confirmed cases and 21 deaths.