Active case totals fall in Ulster, Dutchess

Ulster County on Wednesday reported a continued drop in its number of active cases of COVID-19, and Dutchess County also reported a decline.

Though Ulster reported 82 new COVID diagnoses, it also reported 98 newly designated recoveries, dropping the active case total to 1,727 from the 1,743 reported the previous day.

Active cases of the illness in Ulster County have been on a downward trajectory since their recent peak of 1,925 on March 27.

The 82 new cases were out of the most recent 1,329 test results received — a positivity rate of 6.2%. That number has been rising, having been reported at 3.5% on Monday and 5% on Tuesday.

Ulster County has had 13,596 confirmed cases of COVID since the local outbreak began in March 2020, as well as 11,623 recoveries and 246 deaths. No new deaths were reported Wednesday.

Dutchess County on Wednesday reported 1,320 active COVID cases, down from the 1,356 reported a day earlier but still sharply higher than the 1,178 reported Monday.

COVID-related hospitalizations in Dutchess jumped to a reported 67 on Wednesday from the 61 reported a day earlier. The number of COVID-related deaths in the county was unchanged at 426.

Dutchess County has had 26,776 confirmed cases of CO

VID since March 2020 and on Wednesday reported a seven-day positive test rate of 4.53%.

In the schools

Newly reported cases of COVID-19 in area school districts are as follows, according to New York state.

• Kingston: One on-site student at Chambers Elementary School, one onsite student at J. Watson Bailey Middle School, and one on-site student at John F. Kennedy Elementary School.

• Marlboro: One off-site high school student.

• Onteora: One on-site student at the high school and one off-site high schooler.

• Pine Plains: One onsite teacher at the Cold Spring Early Learning Center.

• Red Hook: One on-site high school student.

• Wallkill: Three on-site students and one off-site student of John G. Borden Middle School; two off-site students of Leptondale Elementary School; three onsite students at Ostrander Elementary School; one onsite student and one on-site teacher at Plattekill Elementary School; and four on-site students, two offsite students and one offsite teacher of the high school.

Vaccinations

Appointments to be vaccinated at state-run sites, including the one at the Ulster County Fairgrounds New Paltz, can be made online at covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov.

Appointments to be vaccinated at the Ulster County-run site at Hudson Valley Mall in the town of Ulster can be made at vaccinateulster.com, and Dutchess County’s vaccination sign-up site is bit.ly/dut-vax.

For local coverage related to the coronavirus, go to bit.ly/DFCOVID19.