Albany County Executive Dan McCoy delivered twin blows of grim news on Tuesday, reporting yet another county record for COVID-19 hospitalizations at 76 patients admitted, and 159 new positive cases — the highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic.
“This is now the fifth time in just over a week that we set a record for the number of residents in hospitals,” McCoy said, adding that the last time the county broke the record for new positive cases was on Nov. 14.
Of those new cases, 22 had a clear source of infection, 11 were healthcare workers and 127 couldn’t be traced to a potential exposure, continuing a pattern of people potentially not being forthcoming with their recent outings. Locals officials have continuously said the lack of an admitted infection source is concerning and limits their ability to stop the spread.
McCoy said on Monday that young people are fueling many of the new cases.
Of the 76 hospitalized, 12 patients are in the intensive care unit, compared to 11 on Monday.
Two women in their 90s also died overnight due to COVID-19, bringing the county’s total number of deaths to 160. In one week, 10 people have died from the virus, McCoy said, and 18 died in November.
During the month of October, 20 people died in the Capital Region due to COVID-19, county-provided data showed. That number more than doubled in November with 49 deaths recorded.
The record-setting numbers come as parts of the county face a likely microcluster designation from the state. Originally, the county was closely monitoring its percentage of residents testing positive for coronavirus over a seven-day average. And in the county’s case, the positivity rate had to top 3 percent for over 10 days to be designated a yellow zone, which would result in mass testing of on-site school students and staff, and capacity restrictions at houses of worship, bars, restaurants and public gatherings. Albany County was at nine consecutive days of a 3 percent positive rate as of Sunday, which is the most recent day that state data show.
But how the state determines that microcluster designation changed recently when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Monday that he will be adding hospitalization and death rates, available hospital and ICU beds, and available healthcare staff to the metrics the state uses to make zone designation decisions.
Until levels for the new metrics have been established, it remains unclear how soon parts of the county could face new restrictions.
McCoy said at Tuesday’s briefing that even with the new state metrics, the county is still likely heading for a yellow zone designation in certain areas and orange in others.
McCoy also commented on Tuesday’s Albany Med nurses’ strike in which nurses said that the hospital is not doing enough to protect them and patients from the coronavirus.
“I was hoping that they’d resolve this issue. It’s a tough time. I understand the nurses. I support what they’re doing,” McCoy said. “They want proper PPE … and they want to be protected, and I stand behind that 100%.”