The state of Alabama recorded more deaths than births in 2020, according to preliminary data gathered by state officials. “This past year, 2020, is going to be the first year that we know of in the history of our state where we actually had more deaths than births. Our state literally shrunk,” Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama’s state health officer, told a COVID-19 town hall on Sept. 17. The preliminary numbers show 64,714 people died in Alabama last year, compared to 57,641 births. Much of the preliminary information comes from hospitals. “We have data going back to the first decade of the 20th century, so more than 100 years. That’s never happened before, nor has it ever even been close before. In World War II or during the flu pandemic of 1918 or World War I, we’ve never had a time where deaths exceed births until this past year and it’s certainly …