RAPID INCREASE
Albany County sees new single-day record-high 205 positive cases
Albany County saw its newest single-day, record-high for confirmed COVID-19 cases with 205 on Tuesday. Alongside Albany County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy confirmed the latest increase in cases during a morning press briefing.
Encompassed within the new cases are 157 who either refused to or could not provide a clear source of infection, 42 who had close contact with other positive cases, and six are healthcare workers or residents of congregate settings. The fiveday average for new daily positives increased to 163.6 from 150.
The county has 1,282 active cases and 2,286 people under mandatory quarantine.
The county executive also confirmed 88 total county residents hospitalized. There were 11 new hospitalizations overnight. Plus, there are 14 patients in the ICU. The hospitalization rate remains at 1.26%.
“While we mark the highest number of new daily cases of COVID-19 to date, we also continue to see our hospitalizations stabilize and regional hospital and ICU bed availability above the state average. This is important to keep our people safe and after Governor Cuomo announced that any new restrictions on businesses will be tied to the severity of illnesses and our
hospital system’s capacity,” McCoy stated on the latest figures.
Whalen also commented on the uptick in confirmed cases.
“It’s important to note that this is not yet the full brunt of the case increase that we expected to see as the result of Thanksgiving gatherings,” Whalen remarked.
“So it is likely that our numbers will increase. We expect to see the full brunt of that about two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday. We’re coming up on that but we’re not there yet,” Whalen continued on the anticipation of more cases.
“Sowe are seeing what I’ve been discussing as a concern all along which is exponential growth,” Whalen noted on the jump in cases.
“We’re really starting to see our numbers pick up and pick up rapidly. The particular concern is that this is happening as we get into the Christmas holiday and of course on a national and a county-level we are concerned about a surge upon surge, so having higher numbers, potentially even double our numbers by Christmas or even before then,” Whalen added regarding the potential wave in cases stemming from holiday gatherings.
Hence, Whalen repeated the need for people to take preventative public health hygiene measures and to stay home when possible.
“So it’s essential that people realize that you must at this stage presume that if you are out and about, if you are in contact with other people, you will be exposed,” Whalen added regarding the widespread community spread of the virus.