ALBANY — There were 94 new COVID cases among county residents from Wednesday to Thursday bringing the total to 4,760 since the pandemic began.
One of two deaths reported on Wednesday was actually a Rensselaer County woman, said County Executive Dan McCoy, so the death toll stands at 148.
As the number of cases increase dramatically in Albany County and across the country, the focus has been on the two drug companies who recently announced huge progress in vaccines. But, said Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, a vaccine likely won’t be available to the general public until next year.
“We know that the epidemiology of the disease will help inform how the vaccine is deployed. We will be looking at people who are at the highest risk and our first responders who we need to continue the infrastructure of our health care system for vaccination,” she said. “How this will roll out is availability of supply. We know there will be limited amounts of vaccine coming to us potentially as early as next month but it is unlikely it will be available to the general public until late spring early summer.”
As of Thursday, there were 1,197 new positive cases since the beginning of November.
There were 1,941 people under mandatory quarantine and the five day average for new positive cases dropped to 76.4 from 87. There are 776 active cases in Albany County.
Of the 19,896 people who completed quarantine, 3,984 tested positive and recovered.
Among the new positive cases, 27 had close contact with positive cases, five reported out of state travel, 53 did not have a clear source of infection at this time, and nine are healthcare workers or residents of congregate settings – though none from Shaker Place Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.
There were three more county residents hospitalized overnight for a total of 44 with 10 in the ICU. The hospitalization rate dropped to .93 percent from .94 percent.
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