The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today, and the news is not good. Since yesterday, there have been six new cases of COVID-19 and two recoveries, increasing the number of active cases by four to 21. One more person is hospitalized with the virus today than yesterday, and one person is in the ICU. There are three more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than there were yesterday, but the number in precautionary quarantine remains the same. The worst news is that, after 126 days of no deaths from COVID-19, Columbia County has now had its 38th death.
With six positives out of 249 test results received, the positive percentage rate for today in 2.4 percent. The seven day rolling average, according to Gossips' calculations, is 0.8 percent--that is, 18 positives out of 2,158 test results received.
I will keep repeating this as long as you keep reporting it: the County Department of Health is not giving us good information. For starters, we don't know the circumstances of the 11 cases last week (or a little more). It was said to be from a fruit farm -- unnamed -- and a group house in Hudson. They apparently didn't live on the farm. How does the County do it's tracing? This weekend on Warren Street is filled with tourists. What are they bringing up? What's the extent of the testing? Who were the 249 tested? Where did they come from. At this stage of this pandemic, our County Health Department is woefully behind its duties to protect the public's health.
ReplyDeleteA "second wave" was warned months ago. Look what's happening in Europe - total collapse and resurgence of the virus. My prediction? We are going to be back to last April; everything is going to be shut down again with stay at home orders and quarantining. Why? Because some people felt they didn't need to follow the rules and have ruined it for us all. Christmas is not going to be so Merry and Bright this year.
ReplyDeleteRespecting privacy is one thing, keeping us safe is another. As Mr. Meyer points out, there should be more details along with the dry numbers. For instance, besides the farm, are the rest concentrated in the retail and hospitality sectors? What about schools? Are there hot spots? If so, protocols need to be tightened ... like, yesterday. We decided months ago, no indoor dining if management does not implement strict health monitoring. Temperature checks of everyone coming and going. Up to date HVAC. Is contact tracing at full speed? How is it conducted? Are tourists arriving from banned states and not quarantining? Fourteen days is a very long time when you're cooped up. It's not business as usual. We must expect and receive more information.
ReplyDeleteWithout waaaaaaaay more testing, all this info is useless. We have no clue how many people have actually gotten it.
ReplyDelete