County warns of virus surge
Officials: Skip gatherings to avoid post-holiday spike
Albany County officials are urging residents to continue following basic health precautions and avoid holiday gatherings despite the first COVID -19 vaccines arriving in the region Monday.
Albany Medical Center workers received the region’s first doses of the Pfizer vaccine Monday afternoon, but the 975-dose batch from the drug manufacturer barely covers a tenth of the hospital’s workforce, which will still require a second dose in 21 days. It will take many more months before vaccines make their way to members of the general public, County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen warned Tuesday.
“It is important for members of the public to know that this is not an imminent option for members of the ( general) public,” she said. “It will likely be months before this is rolled out ... So that is why, as we continue to see the numbers increase, it is more important than ever that people continue the very important public health advice that we give around avoiding large gatherings, crowds, and continuing to wear
your masks.”
Small-group gatherings indoors are of particular concern to health officials, after contact tracing data released Friday showed most of New York’s recent COVID -19 spread is coming from at-home social gatherings.
“We know we spiked after Thanksgiving,” Whalen said. “We’re seeing that now. The concern that we continue to try to stress to the public is that we could have a surge upon surge with the upcoming holidays. It really is dependent on the behavior of everyone in the county what direction we go in.”
The warning came as county officials confirmed two more Albany County residents have died due to complications from COVID -19. County Executive Dan Mccoy said the victims were a man in his 60s and a woman in her 70s, raising the county’s known death toll from the disease to 183.
“My prayers and thoughts go out to the families,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is the seventh day in a row that we’ve had to report people passing away in Albany County.”
The county has lost 14 residents to coronavirus in the last seven days. And the demographic of who’s dying has trended younger in recent months, which is likely the result of rising infections and hospitalizations among young people, officials say.
At the end of October, 50 to 74-year-olds accounted for 24.3 percent of all deaths in Albany County. Now, they account for 28.4 percent, Mccoy said. Those who are 75 and older still account for most of the county ’s deaths, however, at almost 70 percent.
Also on Monday, Mccoy said the county confirmed 178 new cases of coronavirus among residents overnight — the 16th day in a row that the county has seen daily caseloads in the triple digits. Only 22 of the new cases could be traced back to a clear source of exposure, highlighting the strains contact tracers are experiencing when trying to investigate spread.
Sixteen more residents were hospitalized with the virus overnight. A total of 94 Albany County residents are now hospitalized with COVID -19, fifteen in intensive care units.
A record 3,317 people in the county were on mandatory quarantine lists as of Tuesday.
“As we come into the
holiday time when people want to gather, when they want to get together, unfortunately, this year we have to do it differently,” Whalen said. “It involves a little bit of sacrifice, but that sacrifice could help prevent a loved one from becoming ill and being hospitalized. It could save lives.”
Rensselaer County reported 84 new cases and the death of an 82-yearold woman from Rensselaer and an 88-year-old woman who was a resident at the Eddy Heritage House in Troy. They are the county’s 68th and 69th residents to die from the virus. Schenectady County reported the death of a man in his 50s and 143 new positives.