DOUBLE SPRINGS - Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Winston County Courthouse in Double Springs has closed all county offices to non-employees effective immediately Monday, March 30.

WINSTON COUNTY - Because schools, businesses and churches have closed indefinitely in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), more people are spending their free time on Alabama waterways.

BIRMINGHAM - The University of Alabama at Birmingham is launching a collaboration with the biopharmaceutical company Altimmune, Inc. for pre-clinical testing of a potential vaccine to prevent COVID-19 disease.

HALEYVILLE - Lakeland Community Hospital in Haleyville CEO Ashley Pool released a new update over this past weekend regarding the hospital's preparedness for COVID-19. It read as follows:

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump declared Sunday, March 29, that a major disaster exists in the State of Alabama and ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic beginning on January 20, 2020, and continuing.

HALEYVILLE - A former co-owner and COO of a now-defunct pharmacy in Haleyville pled guilty Friday, March 27, in a long-running investigation into a prescription drug-billing scheme.

MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Community College System (ACCS) has announced that online instruction will continue at all of its campuses through the remainder of the spring semester. In addition, due to restrictions on event sizes by state and federal officials, all traditional commencement activities will be postponed.

WINSTON COUNTY - With the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus-2019 or COVID-19 increasing it seems by the minute within Alabama, State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris put out a new health order effective Saturday, March 28, at 5 p.m. for the following types of "non-essential" businesses to be closed to non-employees:

DOUBLE SPRINGS - In a move that saddened all involved, Double Springs First United Methodist Church has regretfully had to cancel its annual Holy Week services, which were scheduled for April 6-10 , due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The health and safety of our friends and neighbors is of utmost concern to us.  So, for the first time in over 30 years, Holy Week will not be conducted this year,"  Lay Leader Jim Baird said.

BIRMINGHAM - The University of Alabama at Birmingham will take part in a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored global clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of novel therapeutic agents in hospitalized adult patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

BANKHEAD NATIONAL FOREST - Effective immediately, public access to developed campgrounds, day use areas and dispersed recreation area restrooms in the following locations in the Bankhead National Forest are temporarily yet indefinitely suspended, for the health and safety of visitors and staff due to the Coronavirus-2019, or COVID-19 pandemic.

Areas affected are:

Houston Day Use Area;

Brushy Lake Campground;

Sipsey Trailhead (restroom only);

Natural Bridge Day Use Area (located near Moreland);

DOUBLE SPRINGS - The Winston Baptist Association has some updates regarding association and/or member church events that have either been canceled or postponed due to Coronavirus-2019:

BANKHEAD NATIONAL FOREST - The USDA Forest Service has announced that all new ignitions for prescribed fire in Bankhead National Forest have been postponed until further notice.

ADDISON - The Alabamian has been able to confirm that an employee at one of the Clayton Homes facilities in Addison has tested positive for COVID-19.

WALKER COUNTY - The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases are in from the Alabama Department of Public Health, and as of Wednesday, March 25, Walker County now has confirmed 8 cases within the county.

WINSTON COUNTY - With area schools still closed and free and reduced lunch rates very high throughout the county, the fear of children not receiving healthy meals is high among school officials. That is why school systems are planning feeding programs throughout the county to feed children who might be in need.

WINSTON COUNTY - “Schools and churches closed…Do your part by keeping the children at home.” That quote surely seems relevant today. Both churches and schools have been canceled due to COVID-19. However, the above quote came from a newspaper article in Hamilton from Oct. 16, 1918. It was relevant then, too, as what was known as Spanish influenza gripped the world, including here on our home turf, same as COVID-19 has.

WINSTON COUNTY - Firefighters across Winston County, who put their lives on the line daily to help others, are speaking out, stating they have none of the supplies required by the Alabama Department of Public Health, to protect themselves from COVID-19.

WINSTON COUNTY - Winston County 9-1-1 is changing procedures not only for its employees, but also emergency responders they dispatch in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.