ALBANY – After three consecutive days of new daily positive cases of COVID-19 hovering below 200, the number soared on Thursday with 279 new cases in Albany County, officials said.
Of the new positive cases, 52 had close contact with others who had the virus, 30 are health professionals or residents of communities, two traveled outside the state and 195 did not have a clear source of infection.
The five-day average for new daily positives has since increased from 201.6 to 206, and there are 1,802 active cases in the county – up from 1,748.
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The county also lost three more residents to the virus – a woman in her 60s, a man in her 80s and a woman in her 90s – bringing the death toll to 286.
Hospitalizations, however, decreased slightly. Although there were three new hospitalizations due to the virus during the night, there are 170 county residents currently in the hospital, which represents a net reduction of 15 from Wednesday. The intensive care unit also has one less patient, with 13 in total.
“COVID is not done with us yet,” county executive Dan McCoy said in a press release. “We cannot be lazy now and we need to be vigilant.”
Elsewhere in the region
Four other counties also confirmed new deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday.
Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties reported one death each. Few details were provided about the victims. Rensselaer County said he was a man from the city of Nassau. Schenectady County spokeswoman Erin Roberts said the latest death was a woman in her 50s.
At least 775 residents across the eight county counties have already lost their lives to the disease, with the highest death toll by far in Albany County. Rensselaer County lost 113 residents to the virus, followed by Schenectady County (104), Saratoga County (84), Columbia County (61), Greene County (60), Warren County (50) and Washington County (17).
Hospitalizations fell slightly in the region, from 553 on Tuesday to 540 on Wednesday.
Bethany Bump contributed.
Where can we get our information?
We monitor updates from local, regional and national government and check facts or data before publishing. The sources we trust include:
Local resources: Daily reports from the health departments of Albany County, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington.
State resources: The New York State Department of Health and the Department of Health’s COVID School Bulletin.
National resources: National data on verified test sites compiled from local health departments, health providers and cities, counties and states. We also have national, state and local data from the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Case Tracker and The COVID Tracking Project.
Other resources: Information on vaccines collected from government agencies, the companies that produce them and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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