Governor Kay Ivey on Wednesday issued her twenty-sixth supplemental emergency proclamation transitioning the state from an amended Safer at Home Order to a new Safer Apart Order, the third phase of COVID-19 pandemic health orders. Masks will no longer be mandated statewide, but individuals are strongly encouraged to wear a mask or other facial covering when in public and in close contact with other people. This order goes into effect at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 9, 2021 and extends until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 5, 2021.

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How do antivirals work?

Antivirals are a class of medications used for treating viruses. Viruses cannot reproduce on their own so to survive they seek out healthy cells in the human body and use these to make 'copies' of themselves. Antivirals disrupt this process by preventing viruses from entering healthy cells, multiplying, or escaping infected cells.

To learn what therapies are being explored to treat COVID-19, visit this tracker.

Updated 20 October 2020