Albany County confirms nine new deaths
ALBANY, N.Y. » Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy confirmed nine new COVID-19 deaths during his Wednesday morning press briefing. McCoy provided the update alongside Albany County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, who discussed the county’s vaccination efforts.
“Tragically, we’ve lost more lives to the virus, and our hospitalization rate has been trending up since New Year’s Day to 8.65% today. This is the highest rate we’ve had in Albany County since December 4. We can’t let our hospital systems become overwhelmed like we’re seeing in places like California, because ultimately, that will only lead to more tragedies. Please do what you can to help us control the spread of the virus and keep people safe. We need everyone to stay home as much as possible, get tested, wear a mask and socially distance,” McCoy stated.
The deaths were a woman in her 60s, a man and woman in their 70s, three men and a woman in their 80s and woman and a man in their 90s. That brought the death toll to 239 since the county began tracking the virus last March.
According to McCoy, five of the deaths were from a nursing home, one of the nursing home residents died at the hospital, and four died at the nursing home. McCoy noted they’re probing the lag in information reported to them about the deaths which happened between Dec. 12 and Jan. 3.
“You would hope after 10 months, we’d have the system down pat. You’d think that we would have the nursing homes reporting to us. Under the law, private one’s do not, they report to the state, but we have to talk to our county coroners too because they should be updating us also,” McCoy remarked on the communication lag.
The county executive also confirmed 272 new positive cases. Encompassed within the new cases were 213 who did not presently have a clear source of infection, 39 who had close contact with other positive cases, and 20 who are healthcare workers or residents of congregate settings. The county has 1,781 active cases and 2,898 people under mandatory quarantine. Conversely, 360 cases were cleared and released for recovery.
On the hospitalization front, there were 16 new hospitalizations overnight, and there are presently 154 county residents hospitalized from the virus. Plus, there are 18 patients in the ICU.
With regards to vaccine distribution, Wha
len noted her team at the health department is energized and continues to scale up their corps of volunteer vaccinators.
“This is our Olympics, and my staff is really energized for this. We are prepared to meet the challenge. We have a renewed vigor and are really looking forward to being part of the historic end to this very difficult time,” Whalen remarked on being able to vaccinate.
“We are not seeing a great deal of vaccine hesitancy. In the 1a population we’re estimating that about 75-80% of people that are eligible will be taking the vaccine,” Whalen continued.
“The vaccine is safe. The vaccine is effective. Weneed to get a lot of people to take this vaccine. So far, among the 18,000 plus people in our region that have been vaccinated, we have not seen serious side effects, allergic reactions, etc.,” Whalen added on her confidence in the vaccine.
Whalen also noted her department will be adhering to the prioritization schedule for vaccinations. The public will have access to links for vaccination sign up once Albany County enters the 1b phase.
Additionally, Whalen says vaccination pods will be in larger spaces to get people in and out once they start vaccinating the larger public.
“I do want to reassure the public that in our area the collaborative efforts are ongoing,” Whalen added on daily communications with their health partners both locally and at the state.