700 cases seen since Friday

Hospital tightens visitation policies in light of rise

As omicron subvariants spread, the number of COVID-19 cases is continuing to rise in Albany County.

The county announced Tuesday more than 700 confirmed new infections since its last update Friday, with 158 of those infections identified overnight. The county’s seven-day average of new daily positives cases jumped up from 178.5 to 196. The hospitalization rate in the county is also rising, with 31 new hospitalizations since Friday, four of which took place overnight. A total of 34 county residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, and one is in the intensive care unit. There have not been any new deaths reported.

While the infection rate has been increasing significantly, the county’s vaccination rate has not. The percentage of residents who have received at least the first dose of the vaccine has not changed since Friday, standing at 81.7 percent. The number of fully vaccinated residents has increased slightly from 74.2 percent to 74.3 percent. And among the population eligible for the booster shot, 71.7 percent have received it — up from

Friday’s 70.8 percent.

Saratoga County

Saratoga Hospital will tighten visitation policies due to the increase of COVID-19 infections among patients and staff. Patients at the hospital may now designate one visitor per day between 4 and 8 p.m., but the hospital will allow “compassionate exceptions” on a caseby-case basis.

Saratoga County, in addition to most of upstate New York, is on the national list of communities with high levels of infection, reaching more than 48,000 cases to date with 800 positive tests in the last seven days.