Albany County coronavirus update, December 18

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — County Executive Daniel McCoy updated residents on Albany County’s COVID-19 response. He said that there have been 8,747 positive cases within the county to date, with 220 new positives since Thursday.

There are 1,637 active cases in the county, and the five-day average for new daily positives is 195.8. McCoy said that 22 of the new positive cases reported close contact with other positives, 22 live or work in a health care setting, and 176 did not report a clear source of infection. McCoy said there are 3,237 under mandatory quarantine. Of the 30,134 to have completed quarantine so far, 7,110 tested positive and recovered.

Dr. Nosa Aigbe Lebarty, CentralMed Urgent and Primary Care CEO and Chief Medical Officer, joined McCoy to discuss hospitalizations, rapid test accuracy, and vaccine safety. They warned of surging infections and hospitalizations ahead of the upcoming holidays.

“We’ve reached two new and sad milestones today: A record number of people in the hospital at 104, and a record number of them in intensive care at 21. Our hospitalizations have now been increasing for a full week. We’re now seeing some of the worst impacts of Thanksgiving and other gatherings, and we’re likely to see an even more alarming surge after the holidays next week,” said County Executive McCoy. “I know it’s not always easy to avoid seeing family around the holiday season, but if we don’t make sacrifices, even more people will get infected, more people will be hospitalized and more people will die. Please do the right thing.”

Although health officials reported 14 new hospitalizations overnight, though there were no new COVID-related deaths to report. The death toll for the county remains 188.

Dr. Lebarty called the rapid-PCR tests offered by the county has a “gold standard” accuracy rating. Lebarty also said that he understands apprehension about the vaccine, but says that it is safe, and that he will be getting vaccinated himself once it is available.