ALBANIA – After three consecutive days of new daily positive cases of COVID-19 hovering below 200, the number shot up again Thursday with 279 new cases in Albany County, officials said.
Of the new positive cases, 52 had close contact with other people who had the virus, 30 were health workers or residents of congregations, two traveled from the state and 195 did not have a clear source of infection.
The five-day average for new daily positive points has since increased from 201.6 to 206, and there are 1802 active cases in the country – compared to 1,748.
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The province also lost three more residents to the virus – a woman in her 60s, a man in her 80s and a woman in her 90s – which brought the death toll to 286.
However, hospitalizations decreased slightly. While there have been three new hospitalizations overnight due to the virus, there are currently 170 provincial residents in the hospital, which is a net decrease of 15 as of Wednesday. The intensive care unit also has one less patient, with 13 in total.
“COVID is not done with us yet,” provincial executive Dan McCoy said in a press release. “We can not be lazy now, and we must watch.”
Elsewhere in the region
Four other provinces also confirmed new deaths due to COVID-19 on Thursday.
Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady provinces each reported one death. Few details were provided about the victims. According to Rensselaer County, they were a man from the city of Nassau. Schenectady County spokeswoman Erin Roberts said their most recent death was a woman in her 50s.
At least 775 residents from across the region with eight counties have now lost their lives to the disease, with the highest death toll in Albany County. Rensselaer County lost 113 residents due 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 do we get our information?
We monitor local, regional, and national government updates and verify facts or data before publishing them. Resources we rely on include:
Local resources: Daily reports from health departments in Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington.
State resources: The Department of Health in New York and the COVID Report Card of the Department of Health.
National resources: National data on verified test sites compiled from local health departments, health care providers and cities, provinces and states. We also rely on national, state and provincial data from the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Case Tracker and The COVID Tracking Project.
Other resources: Vaccination information collected from government agencies, the companies that manufacture the vaccines, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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