Virus cases keep rising

Officials urge only small gatherings for Easter to stymie infection spread

Local officials are asking people to avoid large gatherings as Easter approaches and as the region continues to experience a rise in COVID -19 infection rates.

Average daily cases of the disease have increased 39 percent in the Capital Region in recent weeks, from a low of 188 on March 15 to 262 as of Thursday. The share of people testing positive in the region is also on the rise, climbing from a seven-day average of 1.7 percent March 13 to 2.3 percent as of Thursday. Hospitalizations have risen 12 percent over the same period, to 101 as of Thursday.

“If you look at the trend, the numbers are not going in the direction that we want them to go,” said Albany County Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen. “We

started a downward trend and now we are kind of at a period where we are looking at slight increases. It’s unclear what this means, but what we don’t want is an uptick.”

Warren County Health Services Director Ginelle Jones on Friday said the county has been seeing more community spread of COVID-19 in recent weeks and urged residents to take that into account when making plans for Easter, which is Sunday.

“We ask that you avoid indoor gatherings with others if all involved are not vaccinated,” she said. “If you are planning an Easter dinner with people from outside your household and everyone is not vaccinated, please plan to gather outside and get together safely.”

Officials hope the start next week of inoculations for people in their teens and 20s will help reverse the recent case increases.

Local officials have theorized that the increases are the result of people becoming lax with COVID-19 precautions like mask wearing and social distancing as the weather has warmed. They also suspect that a rise in more contagious and potentially more severe variants of coronavirus are at least partially to blame.

At a news briefing Friday, Whalen also cautioned people against hosting or attending large gatherings for the Easter holiday, noting that cases have spiked after holidays during the pandemic.

“I don’t have a crystal ball,” she said. “But I think that there is a good possibility that with gatherings we could see an uptick. As we do with every holiday, we want to ensure that people are aware that that is a possibility. What we don’t want people to have is regret afterwards if someone becomes infected or becomes sick or hospitalized.”

Fully vaccinated people are a slightly different story.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given the green light to people who are two weeks out from their final dose of vaccine to socialize with each other indoors without masks. The CDC also says fully vaccinated people can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household without masks, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID -19.

Individuals should still avoid medium- and largesized gatherings and should still wear masks in public — even once they are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Vaccine update

The Capital Region — and much of the nation — is in a race against the coronavirus and the spread of variants as providers aim to vaccinate enough people to reach a level of herd immunity where continued transmission is unlikely.

As of Thursday, 22 percent of the Capital Region’s population was fully vaccinated and 36 percent had received at least one dose of vaccine. Generally, scientists believe a population can achieve herd immunity against the virus once at least 70 percent of the group is fully vaccinated.

On Tuesday, New York residents ages 16 and older will become eligible for vaccination. Whalen on Friday warned that 16and 17-year-olds are only eligible to receive the Pfizer-biontech vaccine and encouraged people to double-check before booking vaccine slots to avoid being turned away from clinics administering Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots, which have only been authorized for people 18 and up.

“If we have a 16-yearold show up for a Moderna clinic we simply have to turn them away, unfortunately,” she said.

A parent’s permission is needed for any 16- and 17-year-olds seeking to be vaccinated, she said.

The expanded eligibility to people in their 20s next week is expected to boost local efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. In Albany County, 20- to 29-year-olds have had more confirmed infections to date than any other age group.

“Particularly the college-age community, we know by virtue of age they do a lot of socializing and they generally do well when they have COVID so they don’t always see the downside,” Whalen said. “So I think this is a very important population to be vaccinated.”