A record set
Increase in COVID cases overwhelms contact tracers
Number of virus sufferers in intensive care reaches highest point during pandemic./
The number of Albany County residents with the coronavirus in intensive care has reached its highest point since the pandemic began.
County Executive Dan Mccoy said Wednesday there were 19 patients in local hospitals’ ICUS. The county also recorded 186 new cases, and there are 94 patients hospitalized. The county has averaged 11 new hospitalizations a day this month, Mccoy said.
Mccoy said that jump in ICU patients is concerning and something on which local leaders are keeping a close watch.
“It’s going to be a rough month, it’s going to be a rough month coming up in January, according to the CDC and health experts,” he said.
Of the county ’s new cases, 148 had no clear source of transmission. Local health officials have said their contact tracers are overwhelmed due to the sudden jump in cases, preventing them from doing contact tracing in all cases.
Another 23 had close contact with other positive cases, 14 were health care workers and one reported out of state travel.
The county also saw its death toll reach 170, as a man in his 60s died from the disease.
The region’s hospitalizations continued to climb as well, reaching 243 patients with 41 of them in intensive care.
Other local counties saw a continued rise in cases, some reaching close to record numbers.
Saratoga County saw 28 new cases, Schenectady County saw 93 new cases and Rensselaer County had 84 cases, a new record. Warren County saw 15 new cases for 108 current cases of the disease, the most it has had since the pandemic began.
School impacts
At least two school districts, Guilderland and Hudson Falls, sent their high school students home for remote learning after positive cases were detected.
In Saratoga Springs, the Dorothy Nolan Elementary School will shift to online learning for the rest of the week. Superintendent Michael Patton said the switch to remote on Thursday and Friday is due to the number of cases that have been reported at the school.
“The district is taking the precautionary measure to pause in-person instruction,” Patton said in an online statement. “While we know the importance of keeping our schools open for in-person instruction, each positive case has resulted in multiple students and staff members being placed on mandatory quarantine by Saratoga County Public Health Services. Students will be sent home with the materials they need to be successful and they will continue to follow the current, structured classroom schedules.”
All other schools in the district will remain open to students and staff. Patton’s notification to parents did not indicate if the school will reopen on Monday. Families may pick up meals at the school by filling out the School Closure Meal Pick-up form. Meal pickup is available from 9:10 to 10:10 a.m. each day that in-person instruction is on pause.