COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been seven new cases of COVID-19, and two more people have recovered. There have been no new deaths from the virus.

As of 3 p.m. on April 25, 2020:

• Columbia County has had 13 community members that have passed away from COVID-19
• 149 positive cases
• 74 of the 149 cases have recovered from COVID-19
• 13 of the positive cases are hospitalized, 3 of those hospitalized are in the ICU
• We have received 1,129 test results completed for Columbia County residents
• 145 residents are under mandatory quarantine and 25 under precautionary quarantine

Today, in his briefing, Governor Andrew Cuomo reported that the overall numbers for the state are continuing on the descent. The total hospitalizations today were the same as they were on April 1.

Here in Columbia County, we are not seeing anything like that curve. The bar graph below shows the number of new positive cases over the past three weeks.

During the virtual town hall meeting yesterday, Assemblymember Didi Barrett, whose district includes parts of Dutchess County, where the number of COVID-19 cases is a staggering 2,660, said, "We're lucky not to have a huge problem here [in Columbia County], but our time will come." If it's been demonstrated, as it has in New York City, that human behavior can control the spread of the virus, why do we have to accept the notion that "our time will come"? If we stay at home as much as possible and wear masks and keep our distance from others when we are outside our homes, perhaps things won't get any worse than they are right now.
COPYRIGHT 2020 CAROLE OSTERINK