Top 300 daily cases of coronavirus in the capital region

Indeed, positive tests among residents of Saratoga and Schenectady counties fueled much of Monday’s record number of cases, with each county registering 110 and 139 new cases of the virus, respectively. This smashed their previous one-day records of 81 and 62 set last Monday.

A better idea of ​​the daily trends in cases in those counties can be gleaned from their seven-day moving average of daily new cases, which also hit new highs on Monday. Saratoga County has an average of 50 new cases per day over an average of seven days, while Schenectady County has an average of 49.

Local health officials said the increases came from social gatherings in which people did not follow basic safety precautions, such as wearing a mask and keeping a distance of six feet from others. Other cases come from schools, health care facilities and residential establishments such as retirement homes and adult care facilities.

The number of cases without a clear source of transmission is of growing concern to public health experts. Of the 46 new cases confirmed in Albany County overnight, for example, only five could be attributed to probable exposure. In some cases, it is because there was no clear source of transmission. But officials also believe that many people intentionally withhold their sources of exposure for fear of “taking out” friends and family.

This fear is misplaced, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said last week. Contact tracers only look for information about exposure for public health reasons, not to get in trouble, he said.

As Albany County saw its lowest total of new one-day cases in weeks on Monday, the percentage of residents testing positive for the virus on a seven-day average continues to exceed 3% – a threshold that risks the parts of the county be placed in a “microcluster” area which faces further restrictions. Zones can be triggered if the zone’s rolling positivity rate exceeds 3% for 10 days. On Monday, the county’s positivity rate had held steady at 3.1% for three days.

Hospitalizations

Hospitals in the capital region reported 148 coronavirus patients on Sunday, up nine from the previous day and around 150% from a month ago. The last time hospitals in the region had so many coronavirus patients was on April 29 – just weeks after the region’s hospitalizations peaked at 205, fueled in part by overwhelmed hospital transfers from New York.

The good news is that the number of patients requiring intensive care is lower this fall than compared to spring. Local hospitals had 31 coronavirus patients in intensive care units on Sunday, up from 50 on April 29.

Last death from COVID-19

A man from Schenectady County is the last resident of the capital region to die from complications from COVID-19, local officials confirmed Monday.

The man was 80 years old and lived in an adult care facility, county spokeswoman Erin Roberts said. She did not say which institution he lived in.

Schenectady County has lost at least 57 residents to the coronavirus – more than any other local county except Albany, which has lost 148.

Nearly 400 people in the capital region’s eight counties have died after falling ill with the virus, according to figures provided by local counties.

While hospitals in the region have said death rates among inpatients appear to be dropping, deaths from COVID-19 in the capital region accelerated last month as a second wave of infections hit the region. Since November 1, there have been 29 coronavirus deaths in the region. In October, there were 20. In September, there were six.