Dutchess tops 1,300 active cases of COVID

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. » Dutchess County has topped 1,300 active cases of COVID-19 for the first time in seven months, and another person in the county has died from the illness.

The county’s online dashboard of COVID information showed on Sunday that there were 1,314 actives cases in Dutchess as of Friday, up 49 from the previous day and the highest total since May 10.

The county reported one additional COVID-related death, its 10th in seven days and 205th since the local outbreak began in March.

Dutchess also reported 131 new recoveries from COVID, for a total of 7,457 since the pandemic started.

The county had 100 COVID-related hospitalizations on Friday, the same as the day before.

Ulster County, which does not update its COVID dashboard on weekends, reported on Friday that, as of Thursday, it had 1,713 active cases of COVID, a record high, and 111 deaths.

Ulster has had 4,404 confirmed cases of COVID since March and 2,580 recoveries.

In another COVID-related matter, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan’s office announced Sunday that the county’s Economic Development Alliance awarded a $100,000 loan, through its Revolving Loan Fund, to allow Arrowood Farms in Accord to expand its brewery and distillery; and more than $30,000, through the Ulster Equity Loan program, to Maria Cabrera Alterations & Tailoring on Ulster Avenue in the town of Ulster.

Ryan said the loans, part of the county’s Resilience Economic Plan for small businesses that he announced earlier this week, were granted at “critical moments” for the two businesses because of the economic strain caused by the COVID pandemic.

For local coverage related to the coronavirus, go to bit.ly/DFCOVID19.