Editor’s Note: At this point, we have not received notice of any north Jefferson cancellations for events, but will continue monitoring the situation and will update as we receive notice.

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Although there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Alabama, state health officer Scott Harris is sure the novel coronavirus is here. At a press briefing Thursday evening, Harris said, that despite rumors on social media, “We do not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state.”

However, as more testing is done, he says that will change. “We fully expect that in coming days we will find people, but as of now we don’t have them,’ he said. He noted that about 80 percent of people who contract the virus don’t suffer serious symptoms.

But when a case is confirmed, “Our plan and procedure is to immediately issue notice to the public in the county of residence of the person.”

He and other health officials are recommending avoiding large gatherings. “We think it would be wise for people to avoid mass gatherings of people of 500 or more,” Harris said. He added that the actual number of people present isn’t as important as the social distancing. “Try to stay at least six feet apart,” he said.

The recommendation to avoid large gatherings of people does not include work situations, school closing or canceling college classes. Instead, he said, “It simply applies to large mass gatherings, sporting events, festivals or other types of entertainment that have large number of people.”

Elderly people and those with underlying health issues should take particular care to avoid being among groups of people.

Testing has been ramping up in the state over the past few weeks. The state can handle about 150 tests per day, he said, and there are also private laboratories also doing testing now. He said people who want to be tested should not go to their county health department as they aren’t doing the testing.

Instead, he recommends people first call their doctor to discuss any symptoms they’re having, and, if the doctor recommends testing, they can arrange with the state or a private lab to get screened.

Harris said they want to make any patient a doctor recommends for testing gets tested. “We don’t want to be a barrier to testing,” he said.

Among patients who are being prioritized, though, are those who are having symptoms and have been to one of the infected countries or have had direct contact with someone who has been confirmed to have COVID-19. They are also prioritizing people already in the hospital whose illness does not have a clear explanation.

“I expect that there are people out there that we have not picked up at this point,” he said.