Additional nursing home fatalities
Albany County officials get late notification of additional deaths
ALBANY, N.Y. » County officials were once again notified late of additional deaths occurring at a private nursing home.
While there have been no new deaths reported since Thursday morning’s briefing, there are 11 deaths that occurred at a private nursing home that were previously unreported to the Albany County Department of Health, according to Albany County Executive Dan McCoy.
The deaths, however, were already reported to the state and do not affect the Capital Region’s metrics for Phase 2 of reopening the economy, McCoy noted. These county residents passed away between April 29 and May 9. There were nine women and two men; two in their 70s, five in their 80s, and four in their 90s. This brings the county’s death toll to 87.
“This is an incredibly dynamic process,” Albany County Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen said.
“We realize that there are systems that need to be put in place,” Whalen added.
There are now 1,665 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Albany County, an increase of 21 in
the last 24 hours.
Additionally, there are now 615 people under mandatory quarantine – a steep drop of 233 since yesterday – and 7 people under precautionary quarantine. The five-day average for new daily positives is now eight.
To date, 4,455 individuals have completed quarantine, with 1,319 of them having tested positive and recovered. That brings the county’s recovery rate up to 79.2%.
With 29 people currently hospitalized, the hospitalization rate for Albany County stands at 1.74%, up from 1.64% yesterday. There are currently three people in Intensive Care Units (ICU), unchanged from Wednesday’s briefing.
In honor of Older Americans Month during the month of May, Albany County Department for Aging Commissioner Deb Riitano joined McCoy and Whalen for the daily briefing to discuss how the important county programs and services have adapted to keep seniors safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve long discussed that the more than 65,000 older residents that call Albany County home are the most vulnerable to this virus and we continue to work around the clock to ensure they’re safe and comfortable while they’re staying home. Needless to say, they’re scared and they deserve to know they’re not alone in this,” McCoy said.
“Sadly, without our congregate meal sites, they’re unable to socialize and we’re unable to check in on them, which makes our home-delivered meal program that much more important. I’m proud to say we’ve already delivered 75,901 since this started. As the weather gets warmer, I encourage older residents to stay hydrated and stay cool at home. If you have an older neighbor, please take a moment to check on them,” he continued.
Riitano highlighted some of the partners in the community that have made home delivered and pick up meals possible, including the County Department for Social Services, NY Connects, Colonie Senior Services, Life Path, Ravena Senior Projects, Peter Young Industries, Green Island Senior Center, and Jewish Family Services.
These groups have also done grocery shopping and delivered prescription medications for seniors. She also discussed the New York State Office for the Aging’s Senior of the Year Celebration that unfortunately had to be postponed, but congratulated Albany County’s two honorees – educator Joan Lipscomb and Party Warehouse owner Jerry Sykes. Seniors who need assistance or someone to talk to should call (518) 447-7198.
“I talk to seniors all day and into the night who are struggling [during this pandemic],” Riitano said.
“We are all in this together,” Riitano added.
The county executive and Whalen also talked about antibody testing available for grocery store workers Thursday through Saturday at SEFCU Arena. It’s free and walk-in testing is available from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
McCoy also took time to thank selfless local residents who raised money for gift cards for the staff at Shaker Place Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and brought signs to encourage the residents there. Each of them are people who are providers or users of long term care services who wanted to show their support.