The Auburn area has seen a sharp decline in the number of new cases of Covid-19 over the past two weeks, although health officials are still waiting to see whether Labor Day weekend activities will result in an increase in the coming week ahead. 

Pioneer Park in Loachapoka is open and free to the public on the Second Saturday of each month. 

Positive cases of Covid-19 among Auburn University  students and employees continued to climb last week, as hospitalizations at East Alabama Medical Center saw a slight uptick after reaching the lowest point in months. 

Editor's Note: The Villager is reprinting the following essay by EAMC infectious disease specialist Dr. Ricardo Maldonado, which was shared by East Alabama Medical Center last week, in order to provide the most clear information straight to readers from area experts. 

While the daily Covid-19 case count and moving averages have trended downward over the past month, Lee County has now passed 3,000 confirmed cases since the pandemic began. 

Auburn residents have about 70 days left to apply for an absentee ballot for the General Election in November, amid concerns that policy changes at the Postal Service instituted by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy would impact the delivery of absentee and mail-in ballots. 

In early August, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it would be changing the timetable of the Census, opting to close counting on Sept. 30, 2020 instead of the original Oct. 31 date. 

While the coronavirus pandemic has made an impact on us and society, it has also changed the lives of many of our four-legged friends as well. 

The Auburn area continued to mourn this week the passing of native son and Lee County Commissioner Johnny Lawrence, who died last Friday at the age of 62 after a weeks-long battle with Covid-19. 

While many will turn to mail-in ballots to cast their picks in the general election in November, plenty of voters are still expected exercise their vote the old-fashioned way — by standing in line at their voting precincts. 

East Alabama Medical Center joined other hospitals in the state this week in asking Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to extend the statewide mask mandate before it expires on Friday. 

Auburn residents who like to wind down the day with an adult beverage at their favorite watering hole will have to get their orders in early as the Alabama Beverage Control Board set an 11 p.m. last call for alcohol at bars and restaurants in response to the surging Covid-19 pandemic in the state. 

Every decade the United States conducts a census of its citizens and while for many this may feel like an inconvenient questionnaire, the results of the Census impacts $675 billion dollars in funding and congressional representation in the House of Representatives.

At its meeting on Tuesday night, the Auburn City Council passed a resolution in support of the statewide mandatory mask requirement that went into effect last week. 

Cases of Covid-19 in Lee County and hospitalizations at East Alabama Medical Center both climbed into uncharted territory this week, as the county's confirmed cases surged past 2,100 and hospitalizations reached a new high. 

East Alabama Medical Center is asking those in the community who have recovered from Covid-19 to donate blood plasma, a potentially critical treatment for patients currently infected and hospitalized. 

As families across Alabama continue to struggle with food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic, the Food Bank of East Alabama has had its hands full keeping up with the increasing demand. 

Former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville routed ex-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Tuesday's Primary Runoff Election to win the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. 

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced a new statewide health order that will mandate the wearing of masks or face coverings when in public spaces at a news conference on Wednesday morning. 

The novel coronavirus, which causes the disease Covid-19, is sweeping through Lee County and the state of Alabama once again, as the increase in confirmed cases has spilled over into a rise in hospitalizations at East Alabama Medical Center and EAMC-Lanier. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, repeatedly stressed the importance of wearing masks and voiced support for statewide mandatory mask orders during a livestreamed Q&A session with Alabama Sen. Doug Jones on Tuesday. 

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to sweep throughout the nation, food insecurity continues to be rampant throughout Alabama. The expected expiration at the end of the month of the CARES Act's weekly $600 federal unemployment payment could jeopardize even more people's food security. 

At a news conference on Tuesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced the extension of the current Safer at Home health order through the end of July, but did not take any new substantive action to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, despite roughly 29 percent of the state's confirmed cases coming in t…

Cases of Covid-19 in Lee County passed 1,000 on Thursday morning, while hospitalizations at East Alabama Medical Center remain relatively steady for now. 

The purpose of vaccination is to stimulate the immune response to prevent a disease. A person who is rendered resistant to a disease by vaccination is termed “actively immunized.” Active immunity may also result from recovery from a natural outbreak of a disease. Immunity transferred from pl…

Confirmed cases of patients with Covid-19 pushed toward 600 as of Wednesday morning, while hospitalizations of patients with confirmed cases of Covid-19 have risen over the past two weeks, an increase that was expected after state health restrictions were eased over the past month.

LifeSouth Community Blood Centers is putting on a friendly competition between Auburn and Opelika on Friday to help meet a critical need — restocking the blood supply, which has been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as fewer blood drives were held in the community. 

While the number of patients hospitalized with confirmed cases of Covid-19 declined and plateaued at East Alabama Medical Center over the past two weeks, an infectious disease expert at the hospital expects an increase, and possible second peak, in new cases over the coming weeks and urges t…

After decreasing for nine-straight days, hospitalizations of patients with confirmed cases of Covid-19 at East Alabama Medical Center ticked up this week, an expected increase after the loosening of Stay at Home restrictions at the end of April.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued an amendment to the Safer at Home order that will allow a wide range of businesses to reopen with restrictions, including restaurants, bars, hair salons and gyms. 

If you are the parent of a child in a K-12 school, a college student doing their best to avoid debt, if you pay taxes, or if you are able to be injured and therefore in need of healthcare, you need to complete the Census. 

East Alabama Medical Center is expecting a slight increase in the number of Covid-19 cases over the coming weeks as the state takes steps to ease off Stay at Home restrictions enacted earlier this month. 

At the start of April, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced that it recommended citizens wear cloth masks when in public. 

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has issued a "Safer at Home" health order that will begin reopening Alabama's economy and businesses on a limited basis. 

The number of new cases of Covid-19 in Lee County seem to be leveling off as EAMC officials express hope that it has reached its peak number of hospitalized cases. 

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread in the Lee County community as EAMC officials prepare for an expected surge in the coming weeks. 

Officials at East Alabama Medical Center are urging residents to stay vigilant over the coming weeks as cases of Covid-19 are expected to continue to rise in the Lee County community.

East Alabama Medical Center is encouraging Auburn residents to become "creative pantry chefs" and limit the number of trips to the grocery store only when it is absolutely essential for the next few weeks to help flatten the curve of the Covid-19 outbreak.  

East Alabama Medical Center is pleading with everyone in the Auburn community to shelter in place at home, as efforts continue to "flatten the curve" of the Covid-19 outbreak and help save lives. 

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, local foundations and the Dream Center have joined together to provide aid to some of the most vulnerable members of the Auburn community. 

After resisting calls to issue a Stay at Home order over the past week, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey relented on Friday, issuing a statewide Stay at Home order that goes into effect at 5 p.m. this afternoon in an effort to curb the outbreak of Covid-19 in the state. 

Once it became apparent in mid-March that the Covid-19 pandemic would have a significant impact on the Auburn community, the Lee County Humane Society sprang into action, adjusting how it handles intakes and adoptions and also pushing to get as many animals at the shelter as possible into fo…

The health and safety of Alabamians is our top priority. To that end, the Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama Hospital Association, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama and Alabama Medicaid Agency are joining together to help sto…

The Covid-19 outbreak in the Auburn area turned deadly over the past week, with seven deaths confirmed in EAMC's service area since last Friday between Lee County (2) and Chambers County (4). 

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a health order on Friday that closes down many non-essential business in the state as confirmed cases of Covid-19 continue to rise. 

With the statewide prohibition of on-premise dining and restrictions on the size of gatherings, restaurants and retail stores in the Auburn area have been hit hard and responded by shifting their operations online, focusing on to-go orders, curb-side pickup and delivery.

The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, Covid-19, continue to rise in Lee County as EAMC seeks more personal protective equipment for health care workers bracing for a continued surge of the pandemic in the Auburn area. 

With the statewide prohibition of on-premise dining and restrictions on the size of gatherings, many restaurants in the Auburn area have shifted their operations online, focusing on to-go orders, curb-side pickup, delivery and online shopping.

The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus Covid-19 continues to rise in Lee County as normal life and work has ground to an effective halt. 

With the number of cases of Covid-19 increasing, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statewide public health order on Thursday that places wide restrictions and prohibitions on businesses, as well as closing beaches.