Albany County reports 292 cases; 3 deaths from COVID-19
ALBANY, N.Y. » Officials in Albany County reported 292 new COVID-19 cases on Friday.
Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Albany County has now climbed to 15,284 to date, an increase of 292 new positive cases since Thursday. The five-day average for new daily positives has increased to 269.8 from 267.2.
The county executive reported that among the new positive cases, 43 had close contact with positive cases, 236 did not have a clear source of infection at this time and 13 are healthcare workers or residents of congregate settings. There are now 2,035 active cases in the county, up from 1,981 on Thursday.
The number of people under mandatory quarantine decreased to 3,214 from 3,438. So far, 45,442 people have completed quarantine. Of those who completed quarantine, 13,249 of them had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 209 recoveries since Thursday.
There were 29 new hospitalizations overnight, and there are 168 county residents currently hospitalized from the virus – a net increase of 10. There are now eight patients in ICU’s, up from seven yesterday.
There were three additional COVID-related deaths to report since yesterday: Three women; one
in her 50s, one in her 80s and one in her 90s.
The death toll for the county now stands at 265 since the outbreak began. County Executive McCoy was joined by County Health Commissioner Dr.
Elizabeth Whalen for the briefing.
“Despite getting more Point of Dispensing sites up and running – including at our Times Union Center and the University at Albany – and getting more shots in arms, Albany County’s supply of the vaccine from the federal government just isn’t meeting the demand. At the same time,
we may be seeing a surge in hospitalizations that we’ve been expecting because of holiday celebrations in December, hitting a new record today,” McCoy said.
“While we have hospital overflow plans in place, we don’t want to allow our hospital system to get to that point and we need to do more to prevent the spread of COVID because our percent positive rate is still nearly 9%. We need everyone to wear a mask, socially distance, get tested whether you have symptoms or not, and stay home as much as possible,” he continued.
During the briefing, the county executive shared photos from yesterday’s Point of Dispensing event hosted by Albany County at the Times Union Center, and thanked those for attending, including Albany County Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Bill Clay.
The county executive also reminds small business owners who are suffering financially due to the pandemic that grants of up to $5,000 are available through the Albany County COVID-19 Small Business Grant Program. It is being administered in a partnership with The Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region.