27 new COVID cases in Albany County
Five-day average is down slightly; Stillwater adds 2
The coronavirus continues to spread in the county, with 27 new positive COVID -19 cases reported Wednesday.
Albany County Executive Dan Mccoy said in a news release that 15 of the new cases had close contact with other people who had COVID -19, one had traveled out of state and seven are associated with the University at Albany. To date, the university has reported 33 cases of COVID -19 since Sept. 26.
It is currently unknown where the other 11 people contracted the virus from.
There are currently 119 cases of COVID -19 in the county, up from 103 cases Tuesday. There are four county residents who are currently in the hospital being treated for COVID -19. The five-day average for new positive cases is 19, down from 19.2.
Schenectady County reported two new cases on Wednesday.
An outbreak of COVID -19 has led to 28 inmates testing positive for the disease, along with an unknown number of corrections officers.
The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said it does not release data on the number of corrections officers who have tested positive for the disease by facility due to security concerns. Statewide, 1,353 department employees have tested positive and 97 percent of those have recovered and returned to work, according to department figures.
The prison had 13 positives among inmates on Tuesday, after a single inmate tested positive last week.
“These individuals were immediately isolated and a contact trace was conducted, and those identified were quarantined and tested,” said department spokesman Thomas Mailey in a statement.
The state is in the midst of targeted testing for its entire incarcerated population. The state already requires any inmate moving from a county jail to a state prison to have a negative coronavirus test.
Statewide, 17 inmates and five staff members have died of the disease since the pandemic began.
Stillwater school district in a webpage post on Wednesday said they reported two “presumed” positive cases to the state dashboard and to local health authorities. The two have been in the middle/ high school building and had not not yet received a positive test result; however, due to being in close contact with others who have, they are presumed positive as well, Superintendent Patricia Morris said in the post. The district is working with the local health department on contact tracing procedures, and all spaces where the two have been are being cleaned. The school remains open for in-person instruction, Morris said.