ALBANY — A woman in her 60s is the second person to die from COVID-19 in Albany County.
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County Executive Dan McCoy said the woman died on Tuesday, March 31. There was no other information except that she had multiple underlying health issues.
“This is our second one in the county, and the second of more to come. I don’t want to sit here and keep telling you this,” he said during his daily briefing. “People need to take this serious. It is not about protecting, it is about protecting everyone around you.”
On Saturday, March 28 a man in his 70s with multiple underlying health issues died of COVID-19 at St. Peter’s Hospital.
He and Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, the head of the county Health Department, again stressed the importance of social distancing, washing hands, coughing into your arm and, most importantly, staying at home.
As of Wednesday, April 1 there were 228 positive cases in Albany County, up from 210 from a day before. There are 439 in mandatory quarantine and 241 in precautionary quarantine on Wednesday. Twenty-two people are hospitalized with the virus and 12 are in ICU, McCoy said.
Testing remains and issue, and is reserved for health care workers and those patients who are admitted to the hospital with symptoms of COVID-19 — fever, cough and shortness of breath.
McCoy also warned people to stop reading Facebook and other unreliable sources of news.
“Take a deep breath and step back and stop believing everything you are reading,” he said.
Whalen said Albany County is different than the New York City area, where the virus has hit hardest, in that people are more spread out but stressed people need to take aforementioned precautions, and that may include wearing a mask.
“A surgical mask is a good source of source control. If you have COVID-19 and are wearing a mask you are less likely to infect someone. But you are not fully protected and they are not fully protected,” she said. “Is it better than nothing? Yes.”
“The best protection is to stay at home. Stay at home and wait it out,” she added.
