‘Diddy’ delivers, chicken coops, New Year’s Eve restrictions: News from around our 50 states From USA TODAY Network and wire reports, USA TODAY Alabama Gadsden: The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alabama topped 2,800 this week, as recent days have shown a steady climb and new record high inpatient counts – 2,804 on Tuesday – as the surge in cases continues. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, the University of Alabama’s Division of Infectious Diseases director, said Alabama now is third in the nation in COVID-19 hospitalizations per capita, behind Nevada and Arizona. She said Alabama is sixth in the nation in the number of COVID-19 cases per capita, after falling out of the top 10. On Christmas Eve, the number hospitalized was 2,458 across the state; on Christmas Day and on Saturday, it was 2,516, according to statistics published by BamaTracker. On Sunday, the number rose to 2,631; and it jumped significantly by Monday, to 2,802 people hospitalized. UAB Hospital and East Alabama Medical Center both reported record numbers of COVID-19 patients on Monday. EAMC spokesman John Atkinson said the facility had a high of 66 patients Monday, passing the record of 64 set just eight days earlier. In between, on Christmas Day, the hospital’s number of COVID-19 patients dropped to 47. “We believe that the total decreased at the time it did because people were doing all they could to avoid being hospitalized on Christmas Day,” Atkinson said. “It immediately began increasing the day after Christmas and will likely surpass 66 within the next two to three weeks as additional cases arise because of Christmas gatherings.”