COVID cases spiking again
Number of hospitalizations in Capital Region reaches highest rate since Feb. 17
The Capital Region this week recorded its highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate since mid-february, a time when Albany County and the region were on the downside of the most severe surge in cases since the pandemic began.
Across the eight-county region, the total number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 surged to 189 on Thursday, more than triple early April’s low of 48 total hospitalizations, according to the most recent data on the state Department of Health dashboard.
The state had yet to publish the number of hospitalizations for Friday, but county health officials say hospitalization figures have jumped significantly overnight.
In Albany County, there were 14 new hospitalizations since Thursday, bringing the total number of county residents hospitalized with the disease to 52, County Executive Daniel P. Mccoy said Friday. Of those hospitalized patients, four are in intensive care.
“This is one of the most concerning updates I’ve provided in a long time,” Mccoy said. “The daily average of new COVID infections continues to increase and has now trended above 200; the number of residents in the hospital with the virus is the highest it’s been since Feb. 17.
“And sadly,” Mccoy continued, “individuals continue to succumb to COVID complications.”
Albany County’s most recent seven-day average of COVID cases per 100,000 is now 50.8, slightly below the Capital Region’s average infection rate of 52.4 per 100,000.
Little better elsewhere
Regionally, Warren and Schenectady counties are seeing the highest levels of infection, according to the most recent state data.
Warren County’s average infection rate as of Thursday was 67.4 per population of 100,000. Schenectady reported an average infection rate of 58.6 per population of 100,000.
Since contact tracing on the state level has ceased, Warren County Public Health began reaching out to new cases reported by labs and people who self-reported positive home tests by phone or email to provide guidance.
“Our goal is to ensure that those who become ill with COVID-19 have the information they need regarding treatment, isolation and how to protect loved ones as we continue to try to limit the spread of COVID-19 in our communities,” Warren County Health Services Director Ginelle Jones said.
The current COVID-19 outbreak began in central New York in early April and has ripped through most upstate New York counties for weeks while the majority of the country and New York City continue to see relatively low COVID-19 community levels, according to state and federal data.
The surge, driven by two subvariants of omicron, seemed to be concentrated upstate, but there are signs cases are starting to spread.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its community levels map on Thursday, flipping New York City and the downstate suburbs from green to yellow, signaling that community levels have risen from low to medium.
Most counties in neighboring Massachusetts and Vermont were also shaded orange on the CDC map on Thursday, indicating high community levels of the virus.