COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been four new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is the same as yesterday, from which it can be inferred that four more county residents are now considered to be recovering from the virus. There are five more people in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, but the number hospitalized remains the same. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since June 24.

In a press release from Matt Murell, chair of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, Jack Mabb, director of the CCDOH is quoted as saying, "Going back to Friday with five new cases, it seems there's a bit of a surge going on in the county." The press release continues:

Speaking to positive cases of the virus involving whose who have been through the vaccination process, known as breakthrough cases, Director Mabb said those infected "are divided roughly 50-50 between Moderna and Pfizer vaccines." He placed the rate of those breakthrough cases at "about one in 10 of those who have been vaccinated. However, as we have seen, the vaccinated who contract the virus still don't get seriously ill or wind up hospitalized."

Of the 31 children who recently contracted COVID-19 at Camp Pontiac in Copake, Mabb said all were under the age of 12 and thus unvaccinated. No child over 12 and vaccinated was infected by the virus. He added that many of the infected campers are beginning to return to the camp, with each to present a negative coronavirus test both before leaving home and again upon their return to the camp.

"People need to realize that we're maybe two-thirds of the way through this pandemic, and it's really become a pandemic of the unvaccinated. People need to look at the data--there are news stories every night about it. You can see there's really an imperative to get vaccinated now," said Director Mabb.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 1.2 percent and a seven-day average of 1.6 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region is 3.6 percent and the seven-day average is 2.9 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 5 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 482, and the number of active cases was 12. There were 50 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 4 were hospitalized with the virus, and none was in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 37.