12 more COVID cases; positive test rate steady

The latest coronavirus diagnoses were out of 1,125 results received by the county on Wednesday.

Ulster County on Thursday reported 12 additional COVID-19 diagnoses and an active case total of 128.

The 12 new cases were out of 1,125 test results received by the county on Wednesday, a positivity rate of about 1.1%. That’s in line with the county’s summerlong trend.

Active cases are “slightly up but very much within the norm that we’ve been at for the last two months,” County Executive Pat Ryan said during a Facebook Live event on Thursday.

Ulster County is “holding steady, holding tough,” Ryan said.

Since the start of the pandemic began in March, Ulster County has had 2,202 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been 1,980 recoveries from the illness and 94 deaths, according to the county’s online dashboard of COVID information.

Ryan said two county residents are hospitalized with COVID and one of them is on a ventilator.

Among the current cases reported by the county are six among SUNY New Paltz students. There also has been one COVID recovery at the college.

SUNY New Paltz reported no additional cases on Thursday, though it said 14 students remain in quarantine and three are in isolation due to COVID concerns.

SUNY New Paltz, which began its fall semester on Aug. 24, is in the process of testing all students who live on campus or take oncampus classes. (Complete information about the college testing is posted at bit.ly/sunynp-covid.)

Dutchess County, which last updated its online COVID data on Tuesday, reported 247 active cases, including seven in hospitals, out of the 4,878 total since March. Dutchess said 4,478 COVID patients have recovered and 153 have died.