ALBANY — Four employees at the county Health Department tested positive for COVID-19 and all department employees will begin working remotely from home beginning on Thursday, Oct. 29.
“This is an example of our employees doing the right thing — wearing a mask, social distancing, frequently sanitizing their hands and still contracting the virus,” said County Executive Dan McCoy. “I have said it hasn’t gone away and it can impact anyone.”
As of Thursday, there were 3,526 positive cases of COVID-19 in Albany County, an increase of 19 since Wednesday. The number of people under mandatory quarantine jumped to 1,234 from 1,161 on Wednesday but the five-day average dropped to 21 from 23.6.
Of the 15,954 who completed quarantine, 3,369 of them tested positive and recovered.
There were eight new hospitalizations overnight bringing the total number of residents who are hospitalized to 24 and a rate of .68 percent.
The death toll stands at 140.
“In just one day, eight county residents were admitted into a hospital because of COVID-19. That brings our current total to 24, doubling in less than a week and the highest we’ve had since June 1,” McCoy said. “For a long time, we saw spikes in positive cases without it having a serious effect on our hospital data, but that is clearly not the case.”