Troubling trends for Albany County
Officials stress wearing face masks properly while in public
According to Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, it’s too early to quantify the impact of the Fourth of July holiday weekend on COVID-19 cases. Yet, there were other noticeable troubling trends highlighted during his press conference Tuesday morning.
Among those trends pinpointed by the county executive and Albany County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, were an uptick in cases among younger age groups, and people wearing masks incorrectly at restaurants. Plus the need for people traveling from the 19 states listed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to self-quarantine for 14 days.
McCoy broke down the age demographics on the county data tracker.
“If you look at the 20 to 29-year-old’s it’s 352 and if you
look at the 50 to 59 year old’s you can see over time the difference,” McCoy remarked on the increase compared to the 50 to 59 group which stands below 325 cases.
“The 20 to 29 year old’s that are positive that have no signs or symptoms they’re the one’s out in the community, they’re out doing everything it’s not bothering them and again they can have the potential to spread it to people who have underlying health issues,” McCoy added on the problematic asymptomatic spread of the virus.
McCoy also noted how cases have crept up in the age ranges of 30 to 39 (around 250 cases) and even the 10 to 19 (more than 100 cases) group. Monday saw a confirmed positive case at the Lincoln Park pool.
“If you look at the age group from Delmonico’s and Philly’s, they were falling between 20 and 40 years old. Again, doing the right things at the restaurants, but who knows what’s going on when they’re outside and about?” McCoy remarked on the recent outbreaks.
As of Tuesday, 63 employees from Delmonico’s have been tested and five came back positive and two were Albany County residents. That does not include the three individuals who were originally were identified as having been infected, one of which was an Albany County resident.
At Philly Bar and Grill 35 employees were tested, four came back positive and three were Albany County residents. That’s on top of the three original people who had tested positive and were announced, two of which were Albany County residents.
To that end, Whalen commented on the vital importance of wearing masks appropriately at restaurants and in public.
“Mask wearing is essential. We have heard from our complaint hotline that in some restaurants people are wearing masks but they are wearing them wrong,” Whalen remarked on complaints they’ve been receiving.
“If you are wearing a mask it is necessary to cover your nose and your mouth. To have your nose hanging out, is not wearing a mask. To have it under your chin, is not wearing a mask,” Whalen explained.
“I have observed people wearing masks like this in a restaurant myself within the last week and it’s very important for restaurant owners and managers to take responsibility and ensure that they are appropriately monitoring their staff in an out of the kitchen to make sure that they are wearing masks appropriately,” Whalen emphasized on the point of following proper mask-wearing protocols.
Whalen also expounded upon the County Health Department’s response to the two aforementioned establishments displaying recent positive cases.
“With both of those restaurants, due to the number of cases, we were in touch with the state health department and my recommendation was to close both restaurants for two weeks,” Whalen said.
“I will say both restaurant owners have been very compliant from the get-go. They have been responsive to doing whatever is necessary to protect both their staff and members of the public. So they are doing the right thing, they have indicated that they will do whatever is necessary. We want to be able to ensure that this doesn’t happen again so it’s important to reinforce these points,” Whalen added.
With Cuomo adding Delaware, Kansas, and Oklahoma to the 14-day quarantine list of states, Whalen also noted the concerns they’ve been hearing on travelers through their complaint line.
“Through our complaint line, we are hearing about people that have traveled to other areas of the country, areas that may be under the governor’s recommended quarantine,” Whalen remarked.
“If you have recently traveled back from one of these states, please contact us, please ensure that you are following appropriate quarantine recommendations and please get tested,” Whalen added.
In addition, Whalen reiterated the need for people to recognize that they can still pass the virus to others via asymptomatic spread.
“We have seen recently high profile cases of individuals who have tested positive despite the fact that they have no symptoms,” Whalen said.
“In particular, I’m thinking of the Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who reported yesterday that she has tested positive in the absence of symptoms,” Whalen continued.
“We know Albany has lots of ties to Atlanta. We have heard that there were many residents from Albany County that may have been in that vicinity for the Fourth of July, please ensure that you get tested if you are asymptomatic,” Whalen added.
As of Tuesday morning, there have been 1,953 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Albany County, an increase of five since Monday. Additionally, there are 234 people under mandatory quarantine. The fiveday average for new daily positive cases is 7.6, down from 9.4 Monday.
Presently there are 52 active cases of COVID-19. Thus far, 5,869 people have completed quarantine, with 1,901 of them having tested positive and recovered.
Currently, three people are hospitalized and the hospitalization is at 0.15%, up from 0.1% Monday. There was one new hospitalization overnight and there is now one person in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).