ALBANY — From Wednesday to Thursday, Christmas Eve, the county broke a record for new COVID cases, 269, and four more residents died.
With travelling and gatherings anticipated for Christmas and New Year celebrations, the numbers are expected to go up.
“I would urge you to stay home. Stay home to protect yourself. Stay home to protect your family. Stay home to protect the community,” said Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, head of the county Department of Health.
The 269 new cases is the fourth day in a row the county recorded 200 or more new cases in a single day. The previous high was 228 new cases in a single day.
The number of people under mandatory quarantine increased to 3,332 from 3,052. Of the 33,460 people who completed quarantine, 8,525 tested positive and recovered. An increase of 237 recoveries from Wednesday to Thursday.
There were 14 new hospitalizations reported overnight, with 106 county residents currently hospitalized from the virus. There are 22 patients in the ICU, unchanged from yesterday.
The four deaths from Wednesday to Thursday — two men in their 50s one man in his 60s and one man in his 70s — bring the county’s death toll to 200 since the pandemic began. One of the men in his 50s did not have underlying health conditions, said County Executive Dan McCoy.
Over the last 30 days, 52 county residents have died from the virus.
“The numbers are very alarming and very high for a variety of reasons,” he said. “It is hitting us worse than it did in the beginning, and the numbers are going to continue to grow with people travelling and gathering it is going to have an adverse effect.”
