The Mobile County Health Department (MCHD) announced on April 2, 2020, that a third Mobile County resident had died after testing positive for COVID-19, coming just a day after health officials confirmed the county’s second fatality tied to the virus.
The individual was a 56-year-old man with a history of underlying medical conditions, according to MCHD. The health department did not release additional details about the circumstances of his illness or hospitalization, consistent with its approach to earlier COVID-19 deaths reported in the county.
The back-to-back announcements underscored how quickly the pandemic’s impact was accelerating in Mobile County during the final days of March and the first days of April 2020. Local health officials had spent the preceding weeks urging residents to limit gatherings, maintain distance from others in public and follow guidance from the Alabama Department of Public Health as confirmed cases climbed across the county.
MCHD continued to conduct case contact investigations for residents who tested positive for the virus, a process aimed at identifying and notifying people who may have been exposed so they could monitor themselves for symptoms and limit further spread. Health officials reiterated that people with underlying medical conditions, including older adults, faced a higher risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19, a pattern reflected in the county’s first three reported fatalities.