COVID claims Albany woman
She was in her 70s and had underlying health condition
A woman in her 70s has become the 136th person to die from COVID-19 in Albany County, County Executive Dan Mccoy said Saturday. The woman had underlying health conditions, Mccoy said.
In his daily briefing, Mccoy said there were 14 new coronavirus cases reported Friday. Nine of those had close contact with positive cases, one is a health care worker or resident of a congregate setting, and four did not have a clear source of transmission at this time. Separately, four are associated with the University at Albany.
The total number of people who have been infected with the virus is now more than 3,100, with 112 active cases.
Those now under mandatory quarantine number 1,000. So far, 13,567 people have completed quarantine.
There were three new hospitalizations overnight. The number of county residents currently hospitalized by the virus is now seven, with one patient in intensive care.
Dealership cluster
The county Health Department said Saturday afternoon it has been “flooded with calls” from people asking about the
COVID-19 investigation associated with Depaula Chevrolet on Central Avenue. The department said it is trying to reach everyone but may not be able to because of the high volume. The county said those who visited the dealership since Sept. 20 are not advised to quarantine unless they have been contacted by the health department and are advised to do so.
Those concerned about symptoms, even if minor, or exposure, could consider testing at any locations listed on the county website.
On Friday the health department issued a notice about a cluster at the dealership and said it advised a two-week closure. The number of cases and whether they were customers or employees has not been made public.
Depaula Chevrolet said Saturday it has voluntarily closed its sales and service
facility for a 10-day period, with plans to reopen Tuesday, Oct. 20. During the closing, the business will undertake aggressive deep cleaning.
“We are taking this precautionary step to ensure the continued safety of both our customers and employees,” Chief Financial Officer Kathy Mccamy said in a statement. Depaula reacted in less than 24 hours to discussions with the county and to any potential concerns, she said.
Depaula said it encourages those who have visited the dealership since Sept. 20 to contact the county Health Department at 518-447-4659.
Statewide
Eight people died of the virus statewide on Friday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office said Saturday.
Cuomo’s daily statement said that in “Red Zone” focus areas, the positivity rate for test results reported Friday was nearly 5 percent. The areas have 2.8
percent of state’s population, yet have had 18 percent of all positive cases reported this week. Those are Brooklyn, Queens, Rockland and Orange counties.
The rest of the state has a 0.96 percent positivity rate.
“Our numbers remain good news, even as clusters appear in certain areas of the state,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Our testing system is so advanced that we were able to track clusters to 2.8 percent of the state’s population and attack the virus within that population. It’s going to take the work of all of us now to make sure we don’t go backwards on our hardfought progress.”
Elsewhere, Ulster County
Executive
Pat Ryan said the county has reached more than
100,000 coronavirus diagnostic tests since March 10.