ALBANY — Two more county residents died from Saturday to Sunday, bringing the total to 22.
County Executive Dan McCoy said one man was in his 60s with multiple underlying health problems and one man was in his 70s. Of the 22 who died, all but one was under the age of 60 and 21 of 22 had health issues before being infected with COVID-19.
As more county residents are being tested for the virus, the raw number of infections increases. On Sunday, there were 651 reported cases in Albany County, up 30 from Saturday. There are 797 under mandatory quarantine, up 50 from Saturday, and 30 under precautionary quarantine, down 13.
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The vast majority of people who do get the virus will only suffer minor illness and as such as more people test positive, the hospitalization rate will drop. On Sunday there are 32 people in the hospital for an overall hospitalization rate of 4.9 percent, down from 5.6 percent on Saturday.
Five more resident of Shaker Place, the Albany County nursing home, have tested positive since Saturday, McCoy said, bringing the total to 18. Also, two more employees tested positive, bringing the total to seven. One employee has recovered and is back to work.
The infection rates in nursing homes are an issue across the state and country. The senior citizen residents are more susceptible to serious illness to COVID-19 and many have underlying health issues. They are also living in close quarters, making it more difficult to isolate.
Shaker Place, like nursing homes across the state, is not allowing visitors and all staff must get screened for potential symptoms before they are allowed to enter.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said nursing homes are the “optimal feeding ground for this virus.”
Of the 507 state residents who died from Saturday to Sunday, 33 were in nursing homes. The total number of New York State fatalities on Sunday was 17,627 with 242,500 positive cases. The great majority of cases and fatalities are reported in New York City and downstate counties.
Statewide, the total number of hospitalizations is at about 16,000 compared to a high of nearly 19,000, the three day average of hospitalizations have gone down and the total number who are on a ventilator are also down.
There were still 1,300 people across the state who were admitted to a hospital from Saturday to Sunday for COVID-19, Cuomo said.
While the numbers are encouraging, Cuomo warned of any wide scale opening without first undertaking widespread testing.
“It’s only halftime. We still have to keep the beast under control as we all get very eager to get one with life,” Cuomo said. “It’s not over. We have a whole second phase. First do no harm and don’t jeopardize the good we have done.”
