More infections
One-day Albany County virus caseload tops 100.
Albany County saw another new one-day COVID-19 caseload topping 100, officials said Saturday.
With the 112 news cases logged on Friday, the total number of confirmed cases among county residents since the pandemic began is heading toward 5,000, County Executive Dan Mccoy said in his daily briefing statement.
Among the new positive cases, 23 had close contact with positive cases, two reported out of state travel, 82 did not have a clear source of infection at this time, and five are health care workers or residents of congregate setting, though none from Shaker Place Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Mccoy noted.
Key numbers include confirmed cases to date: 4,954; and active cases: 830, an increase of 791.
There were two new hospitalizations overnight, with the number of residents currently hospitalized at 45. There are 12 patients in intensive care, up from 10 Friday. There were no new deaths to report, with Albany County’s death toll remaining at 148 since the outbreak began.
“We saw a dramatic increase in the num
ber of people tested yesterday and fewer that came back positive,” Mccoy said. “However, we are hovering near the 3 percent 7-day rolling average over a ten-day period that the state has set as the target for moving into a Yellow Zone. We need to continue to be vigilant and follow the guidelines so that we don’t meet the criteria.”
The county Department of Health is advising anyone who was at 99 Restaurant on Wolf Road in Colonie on Nov. 15 between 10:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. that you may have been exposed to a COVID-19 positive employee. Also, anyone who was at the Tipsy Moose at 261 New Scotland Ave. in Albany on Nov. 10 or Nov. 11th from 5 p.m. to midnight either day may have been exposed to a COVID-19 positive staffer.
If you have any concerns about symptoms, you should consider testing. You do not need to contact the health department.
Rensselaer County is reporting that it has 24 new cases with one additional hospitalization. One of the new cases involves a 106-year-old Troy woman who is a resident at the Eddy Heritage House in Troy. Another is a 12-yearold boy who is a student in the Troy school district.
On Friday, 34 died from COVID-19 statewide, bringing the total to
26,326 over the course of the pandemic. Nine of those deaths were in Erie County, the highest amount, figures from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office show.
Mourning caravan
The Poor People’s Campaign will memorialize the nearly 250,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 with a mourning caravan that will circle the state Capitol starting at 1:30 p.m. Monday.
The demonstration, according to organizers, will include a speaker from Queens involved in mutual aid efforts at the height of the coronavirus outbreak there; a dairy farmer from Cayuga County whose friend died from COVID-19 after receiving inadequate medical care; and a local organizer who works with people in prisons and jails vulnerable to outbreaks in correctional facilities.
Caravan participants will gather at 1:30 at 34 Hamilton St. to put signs and memorials on the vehicles before heading to State and South Swan streets to circle the Capitol.
Similar events are planned for states throughout the U.S.. The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival works to build “a moral fusion movement to address the five interlocking injustices of systemic racism and poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy and militarism and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism.”