116 children have had coronavirus in Ulster
In a follow-up to Wednesday’s announcement that 16 children in Ulster County recently tested positive for COVID-19, the county revealed Thursday that 116 young people under the age of 18 have tested positive overall since it began tracking cases.
Ulster County Deputy County Executive Marc Rider noted that the 116 cumulative number includes pre-school children and 17-year-olds who may have already graduated high school. On Wednesday, Rider said the none of the 16 current active cases include any students who are attending or are expected to attend public or private schools.
During a Facebook live interview on Thursday, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan announced that there were 13 positive cases out of 2,083 tests over the last 48 hours, a 0.62% infection rate, less than half of the 1.3% reported over the previous 48-hour period. That had been the highest infection rate reported in the county since August.
As of Thursday, Ulster County has 162 active cases, the same as the day before, while there are now 2,343 confirmed cases, 2,093 recoveries and the death toll remained at 95.
On Thursday, the New York State Health Department’s COVID-19 Report Card — schoolcovidreportcard.health.ny.gov — reported a total of 10 positive cases of school-aged children (5-17 years old) from area schools, including four new cases.
According to the report card website, “The lab reported COVID positive result count estimates the number of school-aged children (5-17 years old) who tested positive and reside within the area served by the school district. It may
not reflect how many stu
dents attending a particular school or school district have been tested positive.”
The Report Card notes four positive cases in the Ellenville Central School Dis
trict, one from the Kingston School District and another from the Rondout Valley Central district that had previously been listed. Added to this report card are two positive cases from the Pine Plains Central School District and one each from the Marlboro and Highland districts.
The Marlboro School District, which began inschool and remote teaching this week, reported in an Oct. 1 letter to families and staff about three separate incidents where “staff, students or both” were exposed to individuals who have tested positive to COVID. The State Report Card reported Wednesday that are four Marlboro teacher/ staff members who have tested positive, one on-site and another off-site each at both the middle and elementary schools.
SUNY New Paltz reported no new cases Thursday. The college has not had a positive case of COVID since Sept. 21.
By the numbers
Dutchess County on Thursday reported on its COVID dashboard 126 active cases, 5,214 confirmed, 4,9027 recovered and 161 fatalities.
On Thursday, Sullivan County reported 1,590 confirmed positive cases since the pandemic began. Its website currently reports 31 active cases and 50 deaths.
Greene County Thursday noted 46 active cases of COVID on its Facebook page. The county has had 372 confirmed cases and 19 deaths.