ALBANY — A 90-year-old woman with underlying health issues died from Wednesday to Thursday, the 30th fatality of COVID-19 in the county.
All but one of the county residents who died were older than 60 and all but one had underlying health issues.
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The total number of cases in Albany County went up 26 to 739. There are 772 under mandatory quarantine, up 59 from Wednesday, and 54 under precautionary quarantine, up 13.
In Shaker Place, the county nursing home, there are 27 residents who tested positive as have 13 employees.
There are 31 Albany County residents in the hospital, for a rate of 4.1 percent, down from about 4.6 percent on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, there were 1,825 residents who completed quarantine and of those 401 had tested positive for the virus.
“Our numbers are higher because we are testing more than most other counties in the state right now,” said County Executive Dan McCoy during his daily briefing.
Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, head of the county Health Department, said the numbers in Albany County seem to have plateaued in that there are a steady 20 to 30 new cases per day.
“We are not seeing any spikes and we are similarly not seeing a rise in in-patient admissions,” she said. “Luckily, in Albany County, our hospitalization rate remains very low.”
In all, she said, about one in 10 people who get tested for COVID-19 in Albany County are testing positive. But, as of right now, the limited number of test kits is reserved for those who are showing symptoms — fever, cough and shortness of breath.
There have been more than 7,500 tests given in Albany County compared to about 2,400 in Rensselaer County, 2,300 in Schenectady County and 3,400 in Saratoga County.
There are 264 cases in Saratoga County, 280 in Schenectady County and 186 in Rensselaer County.
To get a PIN to get tested at the state run site at UAlbany, call 888-364-3065. To sign up for one of the sites in Albany County call 518-456-4771. To sign up for a test at the Rite Aid at the intersection of Route 155 and Central Avenue visit riteaid.com.
