Wednesday, December 1, 2021

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been 2 more deaths from COVID-19. There have also been 44 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 70 more than yesterday, which suggests there has been an error in reporting somewhere along the line. There are 48 more county residents in mandatory quarantine, and 1 fewer hospitalized. None of those hospitalized is in the ICU.  

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for positivity rate from Monday to Tuesday for Columbia County of 5.3 percent and a seven-day average of 7.5 percent. By comparison, the positivity rate for the same 24-hour period for the Capital Region was 9.6 percent and the seven-day average was 7.9 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 3 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 994, and the number of active cases was 53. There were 186 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 15 were hospitalized, and 1 was in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 46.

The numbers from the CCDOH do not indicate the vaccination status of the new cases or of the people who died from the virus. On Monday, however, the Times Union published the following chart, using numbers from the New York State Department of Health. 

The chart shows that there are 21,530 Columbia County residents that have not been fully vaccinated, as compared with 38,386 who have. The percentage of fully vaccinated residents in Columbia County is 64.1 percent--the fourth lowest percentage of eight counties in the Capital Region. Remember that as you go out and about.

11 comments:

  1. Wouldn't it be useful if this chart that is distributed by the CCDOH breaks out the daily cases by vaccinated vs unvaccinated? They obviously have the data and it would be a great educational tool for the public.

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  2. Hudsonvalley360.com is reporting that the two most recent COVID deaths in Columbia County were the first here that were vaccinated. It also reports that they were both seniors "with a lot of comorbidities."

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    1. Cormorbidities or not, seniors are more vulnerable. Immunity is weaker even in a healthy senior. That's why ALL seniors should be extra cautious. Friends cancelled a dinner engagement because both parties had senior moms. I'm afraid that's a sane choice in insane times.

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  3. COVID cases rising, Omnicron arriving, yet people are still walking into stores and bars/restaurants with no masks AND still no mask mandate from our politicians. Very weak and disappointing response.

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    1. Politicians need votes and the ones that care like Democrats are hit with negative criticism no matter how much they care about or do for their constituents. It's an unfortunate dilemma but according to the elections, very real.
      The mandates face opposition at every turn because half of the population are kinda ignorant and in turn love to be hostile because it feels normal to them. Like all those guns and ammo they hoard. Don't ask me for a solution, there isn't any.
      We have been wearing masks everywhere since mid-Summer. NO indoor dining since July. Self care is the only possible way to stay healthy though with the 2 vaccinated senior deaths, that looks very scary indeed. My youngish family physician double masks at all times. That should tell us something.

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    2. Then how do you explain Florida and Texas who both have lower rates of COVID per capita than New York, but have no mandates?

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    3. Florida only reports positive cases among full-time residents, not people who simply own a condo, which would skew elderly and so more at-risk. I'm not sure what other metric might be different state-to-state, but that one seems to stick out.

      As to Texas, where I still have many friends and family, I don't know and am not going to do your research for you. (I suspect that asking the question was an effort to cast doubt on the efficacy of vaccines without the bother of doing research or presenting evidence.) I will tell you anecdotally that when a family member of mine caught Covid, she had to wait for a month in a freezer truck waiting for a space to open up at the funeral home.

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    4. As for Florida, all data exclude persons known to reside outside Florida. If you are a legal resident of Florida, your positive case and/or deaths counts against Florida. The numerator in this analysis (cases) does not include those cases related to people not a legal resident of the state while the denominator (population) only includes those citizens that are legal residents of the state. I don't see a real issue.

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  4. Your comments on Florida will be researched. As far as Texas goes, I've done my research. The 30 day average of new cases of COVID per capita (in this case per million) in the US as of yesterday was just under 267 cases. In Texas that number was 115 and in New York it was 301. Pennsylvania is the highest among the top 5 states (per population with a rate of 467 while the great state of Michigan has a rate of 691. Just as a FYI, Florida's rate was just under 67.

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  5. Thee are obvious differences - the weather at this time of year and its effect on behavior, to name but one - between southern and northern states. State to state comparisons are apples to oranges and these facile conclusions are a red herring. (Apologies for two cliches in one sentence but you get the idea.)

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    1. Thinking likewise ... I've been observing the NYT map of cases on a regular basis. The South, in past 2-3 months has been a light yellow-orange. Saturday, the colors are deepening a bit in 2 states. The largely vaccine & mandate resistant South has been lucky most likely due to weather. What else could it be? That could change in a heartbeat. A cold snap is feasible. Another sharp contrast is NYS, the city with much stricter controls is @ 2% while we are averaging 9+% In NYC, unvaccinated are not allowed in restaurants and events. And, with Proof! Does this sound plausible?

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