ALBANY — From Wednesday to Thursday, the county broker another record for the number of COVID-19 cases in a single day, 1,010.
The previous record of 1,003 was set from Dec. 30 to Dec. 31., about a week after the Christmas holiday and accompanying gatherings.
“This is the highest we’ve ever seen in Albany County since the pandemic started and the second time daily cases broke into the thousands in the last week,” County Executive Dan McCoy said in a statement. “To put that number into perspective, the largest single day increase we recorded last winter was 351, and this goes to show you just how contagious the Omicron variant is.”
From Wednesday to Thursday, there were 12 additional residents hospitalized with COVID-10 bringing the total to 99. A dozen of those are in the ICU.
Also, a woman in her 30s died from the virus brining the death toll up to 474 since the pandemic took hold in March 2020.
As of Wednesday, 79.2 percent of county residents have received at least the first dose of the vaccine and 71.8 percent are fully vaccinated. Of those 18 and older, 88.1 percent of county residents have received at least the first dose.
The county is distributing more than 10,000 test kits to cities and town and villages based on population.
Also, some Stewart’s Shops in the rural areas of Albany County will have some test kits on hand for those who cannot easily access a COVID testing site, McCoy said.
