Saratoga County officials provide COVID update
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. >> Amid a nationwide increase of COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant, Saratoga County officials gave residents an update on efforts within the community, including details on a new initiative that offer local school districts free COVID-19 testing to their students and staff.
Members of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors and the county’s recently established Saratoga Health and Readiness Planning Task Force (SHARP) Task Force spoke during a press conference held on Wednesday afternoon at the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Board Room in Ballston Spa.
Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Theodore T. Kusnierz, Jr. announced the county’s plans to implement a testing program in local schools, which are expected to welcome students again next month.
The board anticipates authorizing a $3.5 million contract with Quadrant Biosciences Inc. that will provide schools with patientfriendly saliva swab COVID tests that can produce results within 24 hours, Kusnierz shared, noting that this will come at no cost to Saratoga County taxpayers and will be funded through a federal grant.
Testing frequency for this program will be based upon Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.
“I think this will be well-received by the schools,” Kusnierz said, “and it’ll help us in our ef
forts to see where we have positives, where we don’t — and if the science, the data indicates we have issues, then we’ll move on from there at the direction of the public health department.”
As families prepare to send their students back to school, county leaders emphasized the importance of vaccination.
Commissioner of the Saratoga County Department of Public Health Services Dr. Dan Kuhles said the county’s high vaccination coverage level — about 80% of the vaccine-eligible population — is what has kept hospitalizations low despite the case increase in the region, state and nation.
“The vaccine is doing what it’s designed to do,” Kuhles said, “which is to prevent hospitalizations, severe illness and death.”
The number of breakthrough cases, which are infections among individuals that are fully vaccinated, has increased in the past several weeks to 43.4% of cases in the past week, Kuhles said.
“But importantly, only 0.24% of fully vaccinated individuals have had a breakthrough case,” Kuhles continued, stressing that an even smaller percentage of these people have been hospitalized or have died.
He concluded, “The data is showing that vaccine remains the most effective tool in our battle against COVID.”
Kusnierz agreed, encouraging all Saratoga County residents to get vaccinated. He said, “The best way for the public to protect themselves is to get the vaccine, get the vaccine, get the vaccine.”
Saratoga County Public Health Services continues to offer free COVID-19 vaccine clinics throughout the county. A schedule is available on the county website and residents are encouraged to check often as new clinics are added weekly.
A video of the full press conference can be viewed at the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Facebook page online at www.facebook.com/saratogacountyboardofsupervisors.