NEWS10 ABC
"Rensselaer County coronavirus update"
by: Johan Sheridan
Posted: May 20, 2020 / 05:46 PM EDT / Updated: May 20, 2020 / 05:47 PM EDT
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Rensselaer County confirms six new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday afternoon, bringing the total to 482 since the outbreak began.
They are:
• A 38-year-old Rensselaer man
• A 23-year-old Nassau woman
• A 50-year-old Rensselaer man
• A 68-year-old Troy woman
• A 91-year-old East Greenbush woman
• A 53-year-old Troy woman
Following a review and update of its numbers, the county says there are 240 residents in quarantine.
There have been 6,359 tests administered to residents, including 253 on Tuesday.
There were 22 cases cleared for recovery — among the highest one-day totals for recoveries in one day for the county — totaling 339 cleared cases in the county.
There are currently six residents in the hospital, though none are in ICU.
Four residents are hospitalized at Samaritan, one at Ellis, and one at Albany Medical Center.
There have unfortunately been 28 deaths of residents in the county from COVID-19 to date.
During the latest installment of the county’s weekday press conference, County Executive Steve McLaughlin said Meals on Wheels continues to be successful, and that inconsistent messages from the state and CDC send mixed messages.
Department of Health Director Mary Fran Wachunas highlighted a seeming uptick in overdoses since mid-March, counting 21 since the outbreak began.
She stressed that naloxone, an opioid antagonist that can reverse overdoses, is available by delivery.
https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer- ... update-17/
COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
"Thirty overdoses rock Capital Region over 24 hours - Investigators believe cocaine laced with fentanyl involved in widespread overdoses"
Kenneth C. Crowe II and and Steve Hughes, Albany, New York Times Union
May 21, 2020 |Updated: May 21, 2020 4:44 p.m.
TROY — There were at least two drug overdose deaths in Rensselaer County, as well as 30 overdoses around the Capital Region, between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning because of a potentially lethal batch of cocaine laced with fentanyl that was sold to users.
"It's something that's unprecedented for all of us," Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said Thursday during a live streamed press conference that was held at the county office building with city fire officials in attendance.
The first overdoses were reported in Troy at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday - with the last call coming in at 6 a.m. Thursday, city officials said.
"It was the likes I've never seen before," Fire Chief Eric McMahon said.
Troy detectives are working to trace the cocaine from Troy back to where it originated, officials said.
McLaughlin and Troy Mayor Patrick Madden said these weren't the stereotypical drug users, but appeared to be recreational users.
County officials said over a 24 hour period 14 overdoses occurred in Troy, two in Schaghticoke and ten in Clifton Park.
They reported another two deaths but did not detail where they occurred.
They said the cocaine laced with fentanyl has probably been spread across the greater Capital Region and into the neighboring states of Massachusetts and Vermont.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said there were two overdoses in the same location in Bethlehem Wednesday.
He said there were 11 overdoses reported in the county since the weekend.
Apple said there appeared to be a "hot load" of drugs in the Capital Region.
The Saratoga County Sheriff's Office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
State Police said they had no reports of overdoses in the Troop G coverage area upon an immediate review of their records.
The overdose calls came fast and furious Wednesday in Troy.
The overdoses were located mostly north of Hoosick Street in the North Central and Lansingburgh neighborhoods.
McMahon said the city had at least 10 overdoses.
Albany city police did not immediately have information about possible overdoses in the city.
"This is a crisis right now."
"When people are recreationally using drugs you have to step back and think about it," said Mary Fran Wachunas, the Rensselaer County health department director.
County officials are asking residents to text NARCAN to 21000 to have fentanyl test strips, Narcan and other materials delivered curbside to their homes without questions asked.
McLaughlin said the county doesn't condone drug use - but in this emergency situation wants to save lives.
Troy police officials say due to the unusual amount of overdoses, detectives from the police department's special operations section were investigating the origins of the narcotics and the circumstances of the overdoses.
Anyone with information can call the Troy police at 518-270-4421.
"It may be one shipment or it may be the beginning of a trend," Madden said.
"We're trying to trace back where the drugs may have been purchased"
The fire department is reviewing its records to put together an accurate picture of what occurred Wednesday as its ambulances were pressed into transporting the overdose victims to Samaritan Hospital.
The scale of the calls hasn't been seen before by the fire department, McMahon said.
The two overdose deaths Wednesday bring the Rensselaer County total for the year already to 31.
Wachunas said last year the county had 34 drug overdose deaths.
Rensselaer and other Capital Region counties reported a spike in overdoses earlier this spring when the COVID-19 pandemic first arrived in the area, and speculated the increase was due to the onslaught of new stresses associated with the crisis.
Columbia County reported 17 overdoses by early April compared to three during the same period last year.
Greene County had 13, compared to 10 in early April of last year.
Addiction experts nationwide say the coronavirus pandemic has created multiple, compounding stressors that increase the likelihood for relapse, overdose, and increased drug and alcohol use among people struggling to cope.
“There is a general consensus among local, state and national experts that the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a potentially dangerous situation in which many of the ingredients that often separately contribute to relapse, and potentially to overdose, are currently all operative at the same time,” Dr. Stephen Giordano, Albany County's department of mental health director, said at the time.
Thursday morning, New Choices Recovery Center in Schenectady sent a email to all their clinicians alerting them of the overdose spike and asking them to pass the message on to their clients, said Laura Combs, associate executive director at the center.
"We wanted to get the word out," she said.
"It's frightening, it's really frightening."
The fact that the fentanyl was mixed in with cocaine meant unsuspecting drug users could be ingesting opioids without meaning to.
Another complicating factor is that the pandemic is making it more difficult to catch tainted batches of drugs quickly because fewer users are being drug tested.
Previously, the center would have clients in treatment for cocaine - whose test results would reveal they had also ingested opioids, Combs said.
The only way for them to tell ahead of time would be to test their drugs with fentanyl test strips, which are generally expensive and reserved for the center's most at-risk clients, Combs said.
"When you're buying something from the street, you have no idea what you're buying," she said.
Anyone who struggling with addiction can call the NYS HOPEline at 1-877-846-7369 or text HOPENY to 467369 any time of day or night for confidential support or referrals.
The state has also established a COVID-19 emotional support helpline at 1-844-863-9314.
Bethany Bump contributed.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... ief&stn=nf
Kenneth C. Crowe II and and Steve Hughes, Albany, New York Times Union
May 21, 2020 |Updated: May 21, 2020 4:44 p.m.
TROY — There were at least two drug overdose deaths in Rensselaer County, as well as 30 overdoses around the Capital Region, between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning because of a potentially lethal batch of cocaine laced with fentanyl that was sold to users.
"It's something that's unprecedented for all of us," Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said Thursday during a live streamed press conference that was held at the county office building with city fire officials in attendance.
The first overdoses were reported in Troy at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday - with the last call coming in at 6 a.m. Thursday, city officials said.
"It was the likes I've never seen before," Fire Chief Eric McMahon said.
Troy detectives are working to trace the cocaine from Troy back to where it originated, officials said.
McLaughlin and Troy Mayor Patrick Madden said these weren't the stereotypical drug users, but appeared to be recreational users.
County officials said over a 24 hour period 14 overdoses occurred in Troy, two in Schaghticoke and ten in Clifton Park.
They reported another two deaths but did not detail where they occurred.
They said the cocaine laced with fentanyl has probably been spread across the greater Capital Region and into the neighboring states of Massachusetts and Vermont.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said there were two overdoses in the same location in Bethlehem Wednesday.
He said there were 11 overdoses reported in the county since the weekend.
Apple said there appeared to be a "hot load" of drugs in the Capital Region.
The Saratoga County Sheriff's Office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
State Police said they had no reports of overdoses in the Troop G coverage area upon an immediate review of their records.
The overdose calls came fast and furious Wednesday in Troy.
The overdoses were located mostly north of Hoosick Street in the North Central and Lansingburgh neighborhoods.
McMahon said the city had at least 10 overdoses.
Albany city police did not immediately have information about possible overdoses in the city.
"This is a crisis right now."
"When people are recreationally using drugs you have to step back and think about it," said Mary Fran Wachunas, the Rensselaer County health department director.
County officials are asking residents to text NARCAN to 21000 to have fentanyl test strips, Narcan and other materials delivered curbside to their homes without questions asked.
McLaughlin said the county doesn't condone drug use - but in this emergency situation wants to save lives.
Troy police officials say due to the unusual amount of overdoses, detectives from the police department's special operations section were investigating the origins of the narcotics and the circumstances of the overdoses.
Anyone with information can call the Troy police at 518-270-4421.
"It may be one shipment or it may be the beginning of a trend," Madden said.
"We're trying to trace back where the drugs may have been purchased"
The fire department is reviewing its records to put together an accurate picture of what occurred Wednesday as its ambulances were pressed into transporting the overdose victims to Samaritan Hospital.
The scale of the calls hasn't been seen before by the fire department, McMahon said.
The two overdose deaths Wednesday bring the Rensselaer County total for the year already to 31.
Wachunas said last year the county had 34 drug overdose deaths.
Rensselaer and other Capital Region counties reported a spike in overdoses earlier this spring when the COVID-19 pandemic first arrived in the area, and speculated the increase was due to the onslaught of new stresses associated with the crisis.
Columbia County reported 17 overdoses by early April compared to three during the same period last year.
Greene County had 13, compared to 10 in early April of last year.
Addiction experts nationwide say the coronavirus pandemic has created multiple, compounding stressors that increase the likelihood for relapse, overdose, and increased drug and alcohol use among people struggling to cope.
“There is a general consensus among local, state and national experts that the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a potentially dangerous situation in which many of the ingredients that often separately contribute to relapse, and potentially to overdose, are currently all operative at the same time,” Dr. Stephen Giordano, Albany County's department of mental health director, said at the time.
Thursday morning, New Choices Recovery Center in Schenectady sent a email to all their clinicians alerting them of the overdose spike and asking them to pass the message on to their clients, said Laura Combs, associate executive director at the center.
"We wanted to get the word out," she said.
"It's frightening, it's really frightening."
The fact that the fentanyl was mixed in with cocaine meant unsuspecting drug users could be ingesting opioids without meaning to.
Another complicating factor is that the pandemic is making it more difficult to catch tainted batches of drugs quickly because fewer users are being drug tested.
Previously, the center would have clients in treatment for cocaine - whose test results would reveal they had also ingested opioids, Combs said.
The only way for them to tell ahead of time would be to test their drugs with fentanyl test strips, which are generally expensive and reserved for the center's most at-risk clients, Combs said.
"When you're buying something from the street, you have no idea what you're buying," she said.
Anyone who struggling with addiction can call the NYS HOPEline at 1-877-846-7369 or text HOPENY to 467369 any time of day or night for confidential support or referrals.
The state has also established a COVID-19 emotional support helpline at 1-844-863-9314.
Bethany Bump contributed.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... ief&stn=nf
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
"Local hospital beds full of 'recovered' nursing home patients with nowhere to go - New order forbids hospitals from discharging patients to nursing homes until they test negative for coronavirus"
Bethany Bump
May 21, 2020 | Updated: May 22, 2020 8:17 a.m.
ALBANY — Albany Medical Center warned this week that a new state directive forbidding hospitals from discharging COVID-19 patients back into nursing homes until they test negative could cause financial strain and capacity issues for hospitals across the Capital Region.
The warning was issued in part by Dr. Fred Venditti, hospital general director for Albany Med.
Hospitals in the region have begun calculating and sharing what’s known in the industry as “avoidable days,” he said.
These are days in which a patient remains in the hospital after they’ve been medically cleared for discharge.
As of Thursday, a dozen hospitals from across the region had accrued 289 avoidable days as a result of the new state directive, he said.
Albany Med alone has accrued 133.
This matters to hospitals because they lose out on revenue they might otherwise have gained if the bed were being used by someone else.
It also leaves fewer beds for patients who may actually need them, and impacts the total share of available beds — a metric that’s being closely tracked by the state to guide regional reopening.
“If it continues to grow, that will create its own set of problems for all of us,” Venditti said, referring to the number of avoidable days.
Albany Med spokesman Matt Markham said hospitals are paid a “case rate” for most admissions — a flat rate that doesn’t change based on the number of days a patient’s in the hospital.
“A patient who stays in the hospital longer continues to use services without additional revenue,” he said.
“Worth noting, stable finances enable us to provide our community the comprehensive level of care it expects and deserves.”
Hospitals that operate on slim margins have been under enormous financial strain as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, due to lost revenues from elective procedures and surgeries, and lower volume in emergency room and inpatient admissions as people stayed away from what they believed could be hotbeds for the virus.
Nursing home directive
Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued the new directive to hospitals May 10 following weeks of criticism for a March 25 order that instructed nursing homes they couldn’t turn away COVID-positive patients.
Industry observers believe this may have introduced the virus unnecessarily into facilities that housed vulnerable populations and were uniquely vulnerable to spread.
At the time, cases of coronavirus were surging and beginning to overwhelm hospitals.
Refrigerated trucks would soon be brought in to handle overflow from hospital morgues.
“The issue at that time was hospital capacity,” Cuomo said Wednesday when asked about the nursing home guidance.
“We were dramatically increasing hospital capacity."
"If a patient doesn’t need an urgent care bed in a hospital…is the best use of a hospital bed to have somebody sit there for two weeks…when they don’t need the hospital bed because they’re not urgently ill?"
"They’re just waiting to test negative…which can take two weeks and you may need that hospital bed for somebody who may die without it?”
As time went on, however, hundreds of nursing homes and long-term care facilities around the state began seeing crisis-level outbreaks.
As of Thursday, upwards of 5,800 New York residents had died from the virus in these facilities, and that’s not counting residents who were transferred out to hospitals and died there.
The new directive now mandates that hospitals cannot discharge a patient to a nursing home until they test negative for COVID-19.
Hospital officials say that can take a while.
“We think sometimes — we know in fact — that the COVID-19 test can remain positive well beyond the time the person is even being treated for or they’re sick from it,” Albany Med president and CEO Dennis McKenna said.
Venditti said someone may still test positive for the virus 30 to 40 days after they got it, but that at that point it’s likely dead virus that can no longer infect someone.
“The virus gets into your nasal pharynx, you go through your acute illness and it doesn’t get completely removed,” he said.
“So you can still measure it through the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test, which just measures a fraction of the RNA."
"But there’s at least one study out there that says you can’t really grow it anymore and so it’s not live.”
On Thursday, McKenna appeared on Rensselaer County’s daily Facebook Live briefing, where he again discussed the issue.
County Executive Steve McLaughlin told him it’s been an ongoing concern of his that nursing homes were forced to accept COVID-19 patients.
“I completely appreciate the position you have of please don’t send anybody back who’s COVID-positive,” McKenna said.
“What we would say is, if we sent them back, we would only do it if we thought it was safe.”
Surge capacity
More than 70 percent of Albany Med’s coronavirus patients this week have been residents of congregate settings, such as group homes and skilled nursing facilities, according to statistics released daily by the hospital on YouTube.
On Monday, 37 of 47 patients were from congregate settings.
On Wednesday, 35 of 48 were.
On Thursday, 31 of 44 were.
“And a good number of those patients are not acutely ill,” Venditti said, of the congregate setting residents.
The state Department of Health confirmed Thursday that patients who are stuck in the “avoidable day” holding pattern count toward the region’s reopening metrics.
As part of the state’s regional reopening plan, hospitals must have at least 30 percent of beds (total and intensive care unit) available at all times in the event a region experiences a new surge in infections.
As of Thursday, 33 percent of the Capital Region’s hospital beds were available and 46 percent of its ICU beds were.
On Rensselaer County’s broadcast Thursday, McKenna disputed that his hospital needs that much of a cushion in order to be ready for an influx of new COVID patients.
“We believe from experience that we could run the hospital at 95 percent capacity or greater,” he said.
“We’ve done that at other times.”
The hospital is licensed to run at 766 beds.
At its low point during the pandemic, with elective cases postponed and fewer non-COVID admissions, it had just over 400 beds full.
That number has since climbed above 500.
“So we’re making our way back, but still have significant way to go,” McKenna said.
Asked what the hospital would do if it hits capacity and has beds full of recovered nursing home residents, Markham, the hospital spokesman said:
“At this time, we are unaware of any alternative site to relocate patients in the event of a surge or the need to increase capacity for routine care in our hospitals.”
In an email to the Times Union, the state Department of Health defended the 30 percent capacity threshold hospitals are required to have, and said it would help hospitals in the event they run out of capacity.
"Our priorities remain the same as they have been from the beginning – promoting and protecting the health and wellbeing of all New Yorkers," department spokeswoman Jill Montag said.
"We are ensuring the healthcare network maintain stability in the event of a surge and that is why we are requiring hospitals maintain at least 30% capacity and build additional supplies and PPE and bed surge capacity in the case of another wave in the fall."
"In the event hospitals are unable to manage their capacity we will work with hospitals to balance their patient load with another facility."
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... ief&stn=nf
Bethany Bump
May 21, 2020 | Updated: May 22, 2020 8:17 a.m.
ALBANY — Albany Medical Center warned this week that a new state directive forbidding hospitals from discharging COVID-19 patients back into nursing homes until they test negative could cause financial strain and capacity issues for hospitals across the Capital Region.
The warning was issued in part by Dr. Fred Venditti, hospital general director for Albany Med.
Hospitals in the region have begun calculating and sharing what’s known in the industry as “avoidable days,” he said.
These are days in which a patient remains in the hospital after they’ve been medically cleared for discharge.
As of Thursday, a dozen hospitals from across the region had accrued 289 avoidable days as a result of the new state directive, he said.
Albany Med alone has accrued 133.
This matters to hospitals because they lose out on revenue they might otherwise have gained if the bed were being used by someone else.
It also leaves fewer beds for patients who may actually need them, and impacts the total share of available beds — a metric that’s being closely tracked by the state to guide regional reopening.
“If it continues to grow, that will create its own set of problems for all of us,” Venditti said, referring to the number of avoidable days.
Albany Med spokesman Matt Markham said hospitals are paid a “case rate” for most admissions — a flat rate that doesn’t change based on the number of days a patient’s in the hospital.
“A patient who stays in the hospital longer continues to use services without additional revenue,” he said.
“Worth noting, stable finances enable us to provide our community the comprehensive level of care it expects and deserves.”
Hospitals that operate on slim margins have been under enormous financial strain as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, due to lost revenues from elective procedures and surgeries, and lower volume in emergency room and inpatient admissions as people stayed away from what they believed could be hotbeds for the virus.
Nursing home directive
Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued the new directive to hospitals May 10 following weeks of criticism for a March 25 order that instructed nursing homes they couldn’t turn away COVID-positive patients.
Industry observers believe this may have introduced the virus unnecessarily into facilities that housed vulnerable populations and were uniquely vulnerable to spread.
At the time, cases of coronavirus were surging and beginning to overwhelm hospitals.
Refrigerated trucks would soon be brought in to handle overflow from hospital morgues.
“The issue at that time was hospital capacity,” Cuomo said Wednesday when asked about the nursing home guidance.
“We were dramatically increasing hospital capacity."
"If a patient doesn’t need an urgent care bed in a hospital…is the best use of a hospital bed to have somebody sit there for two weeks…when they don’t need the hospital bed because they’re not urgently ill?"
"They’re just waiting to test negative…which can take two weeks and you may need that hospital bed for somebody who may die without it?”
As time went on, however, hundreds of nursing homes and long-term care facilities around the state began seeing crisis-level outbreaks.
As of Thursday, upwards of 5,800 New York residents had died from the virus in these facilities, and that’s not counting residents who were transferred out to hospitals and died there.
The new directive now mandates that hospitals cannot discharge a patient to a nursing home until they test negative for COVID-19.
Hospital officials say that can take a while.
“We think sometimes — we know in fact — that the COVID-19 test can remain positive well beyond the time the person is even being treated for or they’re sick from it,” Albany Med president and CEO Dennis McKenna said.
Venditti said someone may still test positive for the virus 30 to 40 days after they got it, but that at that point it’s likely dead virus that can no longer infect someone.
“The virus gets into your nasal pharynx, you go through your acute illness and it doesn’t get completely removed,” he said.
“So you can still measure it through the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test, which just measures a fraction of the RNA."
"But there’s at least one study out there that says you can’t really grow it anymore and so it’s not live.”
On Thursday, McKenna appeared on Rensselaer County’s daily Facebook Live briefing, where he again discussed the issue.
County Executive Steve McLaughlin told him it’s been an ongoing concern of his that nursing homes were forced to accept COVID-19 patients.
“I completely appreciate the position you have of please don’t send anybody back who’s COVID-positive,” McKenna said.
“What we would say is, if we sent them back, we would only do it if we thought it was safe.”
Surge capacity
More than 70 percent of Albany Med’s coronavirus patients this week have been residents of congregate settings, such as group homes and skilled nursing facilities, according to statistics released daily by the hospital on YouTube.
On Monday, 37 of 47 patients were from congregate settings.
On Wednesday, 35 of 48 were.
On Thursday, 31 of 44 were.
“And a good number of those patients are not acutely ill,” Venditti said, of the congregate setting residents.
The state Department of Health confirmed Thursday that patients who are stuck in the “avoidable day” holding pattern count toward the region’s reopening metrics.
As part of the state’s regional reopening plan, hospitals must have at least 30 percent of beds (total and intensive care unit) available at all times in the event a region experiences a new surge in infections.
As of Thursday, 33 percent of the Capital Region’s hospital beds were available and 46 percent of its ICU beds were.
On Rensselaer County’s broadcast Thursday, McKenna disputed that his hospital needs that much of a cushion in order to be ready for an influx of new COVID patients.
“We believe from experience that we could run the hospital at 95 percent capacity or greater,” he said.
“We’ve done that at other times.”
The hospital is licensed to run at 766 beds.
At its low point during the pandemic, with elective cases postponed and fewer non-COVID admissions, it had just over 400 beds full.
That number has since climbed above 500.
“So we’re making our way back, but still have significant way to go,” McKenna said.
Asked what the hospital would do if it hits capacity and has beds full of recovered nursing home residents, Markham, the hospital spokesman said:
“At this time, we are unaware of any alternative site to relocate patients in the event of a surge or the need to increase capacity for routine care in our hospitals.”
In an email to the Times Union, the state Department of Health defended the 30 percent capacity threshold hospitals are required to have, and said it would help hospitals in the event they run out of capacity.
"Our priorities remain the same as they have been from the beginning – promoting and protecting the health and wellbeing of all New Yorkers," department spokeswoman Jill Montag said.
"We are ensuring the healthcare network maintain stability in the event of a surge and that is why we are requiring hospitals maintain at least 30% capacity and build additional supplies and PPE and bed surge capacity in the case of another wave in the fall."
"In the event hospitals are unable to manage their capacity we will work with hospitals to balance their patient load with another facility."
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... ief&stn=nf
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
THE TROY RECORD
"Rensselaer County sees another small COVID-19 increase"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
May 22, 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — With the holiday weekend ahead, county officials are asking residents to remember the real meaning of Memorial Day.
“We appreciate everyone that is currently serving and all of those who have served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said on Friday.
“I would encourage people to think about the meaning of this weekend [Memorial Day],” Assemblyman Jake Ashby said, who is a combat veteran.
Meanwhile, two new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed to the Rensselaer County Health Department it was announced on Friday.
The two new cases bring the number of confirmed cases to 486.
“We’re certainly trending in the right direction,” McLaughlin said.
“Our testing is going up but our positives are not really going up much at all,” McLaughlin added
The new cases include:
• A new case involving a 17-year-old Troy girl.
• A new case involving a 46-year-old Troy man.
There are now six residents in the hospital and none in the ICU.
There are four residents in Samaritan, one in Ellis and one in Albany Medical Center hospital.
There have been 7,208 tests administered to residents, with 293 tests recorded yesterday.
There are now approximately 200 residents in quarantine.
There have been 28 deaths due to COVID-19.
The county also announced five new cases cleared for recovery, bringing the number of cleared cases to 344.
"We remain encouraged by relatively flat numbers this week, and are hopeful as we head into the holiday weekend."
"We believe we are making progress as we fight back against the outbreak," McLaughlin said.
"Our hospitalization numbers this week remained relatively flat and we have largely been in single digits for most days recently."
"That is also encouraging," McLaughlin added.
Ashby went on to discuss things going on at the state level during the pandemic.
“We did get word today that we should be getting called back to session [remotely] sometime next week,” Ashby said.
A breakdown of cases by municipality:
Troy - 166
East Greenbush - 53
Nassau - 8
Brunswick - 22
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 33
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 47
Schaghticoke - 73 *
Pittstown - 9
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 32
Berlin - 3
(* includes 58 confirmed cases at the Diamond Hill adult care facility)
A breakdown of cases by age:
0 to 19 - 32
20 to 29 - 94
30 to 39 - 83
40 to 49 - 52
50 to 59 - 72
60 to 69 - 59
70 to 79 - 51
80 to 89 - 23
90 to 99 - 20
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 7463b.html
"Rensselaer County sees another small COVID-19 increase"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
May 22, 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — With the holiday weekend ahead, county officials are asking residents to remember the real meaning of Memorial Day.
“We appreciate everyone that is currently serving and all of those who have served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said on Friday.
“I would encourage people to think about the meaning of this weekend [Memorial Day],” Assemblyman Jake Ashby said, who is a combat veteran.
Meanwhile, two new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed to the Rensselaer County Health Department it was announced on Friday.
The two new cases bring the number of confirmed cases to 486.
“We’re certainly trending in the right direction,” McLaughlin said.
“Our testing is going up but our positives are not really going up much at all,” McLaughlin added
The new cases include:
• A new case involving a 17-year-old Troy girl.
• A new case involving a 46-year-old Troy man.
There are now six residents in the hospital and none in the ICU.
There are four residents in Samaritan, one in Ellis and one in Albany Medical Center hospital.
There have been 7,208 tests administered to residents, with 293 tests recorded yesterday.
There are now approximately 200 residents in quarantine.
There have been 28 deaths due to COVID-19.
The county also announced five new cases cleared for recovery, bringing the number of cleared cases to 344.
"We remain encouraged by relatively flat numbers this week, and are hopeful as we head into the holiday weekend."
"We believe we are making progress as we fight back against the outbreak," McLaughlin said.
"Our hospitalization numbers this week remained relatively flat and we have largely been in single digits for most days recently."
"That is also encouraging," McLaughlin added.
Ashby went on to discuss things going on at the state level during the pandemic.
“We did get word today that we should be getting called back to session [remotely] sometime next week,” Ashby said.
A breakdown of cases by municipality:
Troy - 166
East Greenbush - 53
Nassau - 8
Brunswick - 22
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 33
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 47
Schaghticoke - 73 *
Pittstown - 9
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 32
Berlin - 3
(* includes 58 confirmed cases at the Diamond Hill adult care facility)
A breakdown of cases by age:
0 to 19 - 32
20 to 29 - 94
30 to 39 - 83
40 to 49 - 52
50 to 59 - 72
60 to 69 - 59
70 to 79 - 51
80 to 89 - 23
90 to 99 - 20
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 7463b.html
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
NEWS10 ABC
"Rennselaer County coronavirus update Friday, May 22"
by: Sarah Darmanjian
Posted: May 22, 2020 / 03:50 PM EDT / Updated: May 22, 2020 / 03:50 PM EDT
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- In Rensselaer County’s daily coronavirus update County Executive Steve McLaughlin says two additional cases were reported bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 486.
There are no new additional deaths, the total remains 28.
Six people remain hospitalized with COVID-19, none are in the ICU.
To date 344 county residents have recovered from the virus.
Two hundred residents are in quarantine.
The county received 293 tests Thursday, and 7,208 tests overall.
Following a string of overdoses from fentanyl-laced crack cocaine, the county says they have given out 45 fentanyl test strips since Thursday.
McLaughlin also says more than likely the majority of summer camps will remain closed this year.
https://www.news10.com/news/rennselaer- ... ay-may-22/
"Rennselaer County coronavirus update Friday, May 22"
by: Sarah Darmanjian
Posted: May 22, 2020 / 03:50 PM EDT / Updated: May 22, 2020 / 03:50 PM EDT
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- In Rensselaer County’s daily coronavirus update County Executive Steve McLaughlin says two additional cases were reported bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 486.
There are no new additional deaths, the total remains 28.
Six people remain hospitalized with COVID-19, none are in the ICU.
To date 344 county residents have recovered from the virus.
Two hundred residents are in quarantine.
The county received 293 tests Thursday, and 7,208 tests overall.
Following a string of overdoses from fentanyl-laced crack cocaine, the county says they have given out 45 fentanyl test strips since Thursday.
McLaughlin also says more than likely the majority of summer camps will remain closed this year.
https://www.news10.com/news/rennselaer- ... ay-may-22/
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
THE TROY RECORD
"Rensselaer County reports seven new COVID-19 cases Saturday"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
23 MAY 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — The county started the long Memorial Day weekend with seven new confirmed COVID-19 cases, and one additional hospitalization, County Executive Steve McLaughlin announced on Saturday.
The new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 493.
Along with the new cases, the county also announced a new confirmed case involving an employee at the East Greenbush Wal-Mart.
The employee, an Albany County resident, is not believed to have had any contact with customers at the store, and therefore, the risk of exposure is significantly reduced.
The new cases include:
• A new case involving a 59-year-old Schodack man.
• A new case involving a 23-year-old Troy man.
• A new case involving a 67-year-old East Greenbush woman.
• A new case involving a 92-year-old Rensselaer woman.
• A new case involving a 38-year-old Pittstown woman.
• A new case involving a 68-year-old Pittstown woman.
• A new case involving a 91-year-old male resident at the Rosewood Gardens adult care facility in East Greenbush.
The county remained relatively stable with hospitalizations, reporting no cases in the ICU, and maintaining overall hospitalizations in the single digits for the past several days.
"We're encouraged that we have had hospitalizations stay in single digits for much of the past week, and also have gone several days without cases in the ICU," McLaughlin said.
"It is encouraging to see numbers be relatively flat during the first few days of the county being opened for Phase One."
"We are looking for that trend to continue in the coming week," McLaughlin added.
"We have had a good start to our reopening and need the public to continue to be aware and effective in helping stop the spread."
"We are eager to safely move through the remaining phases of the reopening process," McLaughlin continued.
The county did not tally any case clearances on Saturday, which is common for weekends, officials noted.
There have been 344 cases clearances to date.
"The weekend is usually when we see few if any clearances, so we remain optimistic about our clearance numbers increasing in the coming days," McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin advised residents to enjoy the weekend safely and productively, while being careful to avoid potential exposure.
"It looks like we are having a good, if not great weekend for weather, if Saturday is any indication."
"Get outdoors, have fun, and use common sense while maintaining social distancing and crowd reduction techniques," he said.
"We also ask residents to think of those who fell in defense of our freedom, and their families who carried a burden for many years to follow."
"Rensselaer County residents have always answered the call to duty throughout our nation's history, and many have made the ultimate sacrifice and deserve respect and recognition," he added.
There have been 7,619 tests administered to county residents, with 411 tests recorded Friday.
There are approximately 200 residents in quarantine.
The county has seen a total of 28 deaths from COVID-19 in the county to date.
A breakdown of cases by municipality:
Troy - 167
East Greenbush - 55
Nassau - 8
Brunswick - 22
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 34
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 47
Schaghticoke - 73 *
Pittstown - 11
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 33
Berlin - 3
(* includes 58 confirmed cases at the Diamond Hill adult care facility)
A breakdown of cases by age:
0 to 19 - 32
20 to 29 - 95
30 to 39 - 84
40 to 49 - 52
50 to 59 - 73
60 to 69 - 61
70 to 79 - 51
80 to 89 - 23
90 to 99 - 21
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 90394.html
"Rensselaer County reports seven new COVID-19 cases Saturday"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
23 MAY 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — The county started the long Memorial Day weekend with seven new confirmed COVID-19 cases, and one additional hospitalization, County Executive Steve McLaughlin announced on Saturday.
The new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 493.
Along with the new cases, the county also announced a new confirmed case involving an employee at the East Greenbush Wal-Mart.
The employee, an Albany County resident, is not believed to have had any contact with customers at the store, and therefore, the risk of exposure is significantly reduced.
The new cases include:
• A new case involving a 59-year-old Schodack man.
• A new case involving a 23-year-old Troy man.
• A new case involving a 67-year-old East Greenbush woman.
• A new case involving a 92-year-old Rensselaer woman.
• A new case involving a 38-year-old Pittstown woman.
• A new case involving a 68-year-old Pittstown woman.
• A new case involving a 91-year-old male resident at the Rosewood Gardens adult care facility in East Greenbush.
The county remained relatively stable with hospitalizations, reporting no cases in the ICU, and maintaining overall hospitalizations in the single digits for the past several days.
"We're encouraged that we have had hospitalizations stay in single digits for much of the past week, and also have gone several days without cases in the ICU," McLaughlin said.
"It is encouraging to see numbers be relatively flat during the first few days of the county being opened for Phase One."
"We are looking for that trend to continue in the coming week," McLaughlin added.
"We have had a good start to our reopening and need the public to continue to be aware and effective in helping stop the spread."
"We are eager to safely move through the remaining phases of the reopening process," McLaughlin continued.
The county did not tally any case clearances on Saturday, which is common for weekends, officials noted.
There have been 344 cases clearances to date.
"The weekend is usually when we see few if any clearances, so we remain optimistic about our clearance numbers increasing in the coming days," McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin advised residents to enjoy the weekend safely and productively, while being careful to avoid potential exposure.
"It looks like we are having a good, if not great weekend for weather, if Saturday is any indication."
"Get outdoors, have fun, and use common sense while maintaining social distancing and crowd reduction techniques," he said.
"We also ask residents to think of those who fell in defense of our freedom, and their families who carried a burden for many years to follow."
"Rensselaer County residents have always answered the call to duty throughout our nation's history, and many have made the ultimate sacrifice and deserve respect and recognition," he added.
There have been 7,619 tests administered to county residents, with 411 tests recorded Friday.
There are approximately 200 residents in quarantine.
The county has seen a total of 28 deaths from COVID-19 in the county to date.
A breakdown of cases by municipality:
Troy - 167
East Greenbush - 55
Nassau - 8
Brunswick - 22
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 34
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 47
Schaghticoke - 73 *
Pittstown - 11
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 33
Berlin - 3
(* includes 58 confirmed cases at the Diamond Hill adult care facility)
A breakdown of cases by age:
0 to 19 - 32
20 to 29 - 95
30 to 39 - 84
40 to 49 - 52
50 to 59 - 73
60 to 69 - 61
70 to 79 - 51
80 to 89 - 23
90 to 99 - 21
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 90394.html
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
"Coronavirus live updates: No exposure to customers in Rensselaer County case"
News staff, Albany, New York Times Union
May 23, 2020 | Updated: May 26, 2020 8:56 a.m.
Saturday's updates
12:30 p.m.: Rensselaer County has 7 new cases
Rensselaer County officials say the county saw seven new cases in the past day, and one new hospitalization.
There was one case involving a Walmart employee from Albany County but there was no exposure to customers.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... 290311.php
News staff, Albany, New York Times Union
May 23, 2020 | Updated: May 26, 2020 8:56 a.m.
Saturday's updates
12:30 p.m.: Rensselaer County has 7 new cases
Rensselaer County officials say the county saw seven new cases in the past day, and one new hospitalization.
There was one case involving a Walmart employee from Albany County but there was no exposure to customers.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... 290311.php
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
syracuse.com
"NY must own nursing home mistakes, learn from them (Editorial)"
By Advance Media NY Editorial Board
Posted May 24, 2020
Now that the immediate crisis posed by the coronavirus has eased, we can look back at the decisions public officials made in the heat of the moment, analyze them and learn from them.
This exercise is called accountability.
Recent reporting by Syracuse.com, ProPublica, the Associated Press and others are shining a harsh light on decisions Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker made in the months since the state’s first Covid-19 case was reported March 1 and its first death was reported March 14.
The state’s confused handling of nursing homes is one area that deserves deep scrutiny.
From the start of the pandemic, nursing homes were of particular concern because they house people most vulnerable to the disease, living in close proximity, sharing meals and being cared for by workers living in the community, where the virus is circulating.
The coronavirus tore through nursing homes in Italy and in Washington State with deadly efficiency — an early indicator of the trouble ahead for eldercare facilities in New York.
In response, the state did order nursing home to take precautions.
Visitors were banned.
Residents were isolated in their rooms.
Yet the coronavirus continued to infiltrate nursing homes.
A shortage of tests meant that workers could not routinely get tested to see if they were asymptomatic carriers.
Even residents who were sick couldn’t get a test, staff writers James T. Mulder and Elizabeth Doran reported.
This led to a severe undercount of confirmed coronavirus infections and deaths in nursing homes.
Nothing sums up the confusion at the top better than this: On May 5, the state announced 1,700 previously unreported nursing home deaths that were found after the health department ordered a retrospective count April 18.
Among them were 19 deaths in Onondaga County that surprised Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon.
Staff writer Tim Knauss reported that the state wasn’t asking nursing homes for daily death totals until mid-April.
One health department decision, in particular, has been roundly criticized.
On March 25, the state ordered nursing homes to take recovering coronavirus patients back from the hospital, to free up beds for new patients.
Nursing homes felt they had no choice but to comply.
On April 29, the state clarified its policy, saying nursing homes could refuse patients if they couldn’t care for them properly.
The state reversed its directive on May 10.
In that time, more than 4,300 Covid-19 patients were returned to nursing homes, according to a count of hospital discharges by the Associated Press.
Doctors and advocates for nursing home residents say it stands to reason that bringing Covid-19 patients back into nursing homes introduced new infections and worsened the death toll inside the homes.
We may never know for sure.
Here’s what we do know: As of May 20, New York state has counted 3,178 confirmed deaths and 2,698 presumed deaths from Covid-19 at nursing homes and adult care facilities.
The total of 5,876 does not include nursing home residents who died at hospitals — a hair-splitting distinction that masks the true number of nursing home and adult care residents who have died from this disease.
At least one in five of Covid-19 deaths in New York have occurred in nursing homes.
Knowing the dangers, we owed nursing home residents better.
Instead of admitting error, Cuomo continues to deflect responsibility and shift the blame.
Whenever he is questioned about nursing homes, the governor recites a litany of excuses: They didn’t tell us the virus would come from Europe.
We were just following guidance from the Trump administration and the Centers for Disease Control.
The nursing homes should have told us they were not equipped to care for these patients.
None of that excuses New York’s failure to heed warnings from medical groups and families that putting Covid-19 patients back into nursing homes posed “a clear and present danger” to otherwise healthy residents and people rehabilitating from surgery.
Cuomo and Zucker should just own that.
That’s hindsight.
Looking forward, New York has more problems to solve in its nursing homes.
Under another state directive — and a welcome one — nursing homes are supposed to test their workers twice a week.
If they comply, that should help public health authorities stamp out new infections.
However, it is still unclear who will pay for it, as the state, nursing home operators and insurance companies point at each other for a solution.
For years, the state’s 600-plus nursing homes have rolled from one crisis to the next: staffing shortages, Medicaid reimbursements that barely cover costs, substandard care, poor infection control, lax oversight.
Now that the coronavirus crisis in nursing homes has grabbed the public’s attention, New Yorkers need to put pressure on elected officials and policymakers to address the systemic failures it laid bare.
About Syracuse.com editorials
Editorials represent the collective opinion of the Advance Media New York editorial board. Our opinions are independent of news coverage. Read our mission statement. Members of the editorial board are Tim Kennedy, Trish LaMonte, Jason Murray and Marie Morelli.
To respond to this editorial: Submit a comment through the Google form above, or submit a letter or commentary to letters@syracuse.com.
If you have questions about the Opinions & Editorials section, contact Marie Morelli, editorial/opinion leader, at mmorelli@syracuse.com
https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2020/0 ... orial.html
"NY must own nursing home mistakes, learn from them (Editorial)"
By Advance Media NY Editorial Board
Posted May 24, 2020
Now that the immediate crisis posed by the coronavirus has eased, we can look back at the decisions public officials made in the heat of the moment, analyze them and learn from them.
This exercise is called accountability.
Recent reporting by Syracuse.com, ProPublica, the Associated Press and others are shining a harsh light on decisions Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker made in the months since the state’s first Covid-19 case was reported March 1 and its first death was reported March 14.
The state’s confused handling of nursing homes is one area that deserves deep scrutiny.
From the start of the pandemic, nursing homes were of particular concern because they house people most vulnerable to the disease, living in close proximity, sharing meals and being cared for by workers living in the community, where the virus is circulating.
The coronavirus tore through nursing homes in Italy and in Washington State with deadly efficiency — an early indicator of the trouble ahead for eldercare facilities in New York.
In response, the state did order nursing home to take precautions.
Visitors were banned.
Residents were isolated in their rooms.
Yet the coronavirus continued to infiltrate nursing homes.
A shortage of tests meant that workers could not routinely get tested to see if they were asymptomatic carriers.
Even residents who were sick couldn’t get a test, staff writers James T. Mulder and Elizabeth Doran reported.
This led to a severe undercount of confirmed coronavirus infections and deaths in nursing homes.
Nothing sums up the confusion at the top better than this: On May 5, the state announced 1,700 previously unreported nursing home deaths that were found after the health department ordered a retrospective count April 18.
Among them were 19 deaths in Onondaga County that surprised Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon.
Staff writer Tim Knauss reported that the state wasn’t asking nursing homes for daily death totals until mid-April.
One health department decision, in particular, has been roundly criticized.
On March 25, the state ordered nursing homes to take recovering coronavirus patients back from the hospital, to free up beds for new patients.
Nursing homes felt they had no choice but to comply.
On April 29, the state clarified its policy, saying nursing homes could refuse patients if they couldn’t care for them properly.
The state reversed its directive on May 10.
In that time, more than 4,300 Covid-19 patients were returned to nursing homes, according to a count of hospital discharges by the Associated Press.
Doctors and advocates for nursing home residents say it stands to reason that bringing Covid-19 patients back into nursing homes introduced new infections and worsened the death toll inside the homes.
We may never know for sure.
Here’s what we do know: As of May 20, New York state has counted 3,178 confirmed deaths and 2,698 presumed deaths from Covid-19 at nursing homes and adult care facilities.
The total of 5,876 does not include nursing home residents who died at hospitals — a hair-splitting distinction that masks the true number of nursing home and adult care residents who have died from this disease.
At least one in five of Covid-19 deaths in New York have occurred in nursing homes.
Knowing the dangers, we owed nursing home residents better.
Instead of admitting error, Cuomo continues to deflect responsibility and shift the blame.
Whenever he is questioned about nursing homes, the governor recites a litany of excuses: They didn’t tell us the virus would come from Europe.
We were just following guidance from the Trump administration and the Centers for Disease Control.
The nursing homes should have told us they were not equipped to care for these patients.
None of that excuses New York’s failure to heed warnings from medical groups and families that putting Covid-19 patients back into nursing homes posed “a clear and present danger” to otherwise healthy residents and people rehabilitating from surgery.
Cuomo and Zucker should just own that.
That’s hindsight.
Looking forward, New York has more problems to solve in its nursing homes.
Under another state directive — and a welcome one — nursing homes are supposed to test their workers twice a week.
If they comply, that should help public health authorities stamp out new infections.
However, it is still unclear who will pay for it, as the state, nursing home operators and insurance companies point at each other for a solution.
For years, the state’s 600-plus nursing homes have rolled from one crisis to the next: staffing shortages, Medicaid reimbursements that barely cover costs, substandard care, poor infection control, lax oversight.
Now that the coronavirus crisis in nursing homes has grabbed the public’s attention, New Yorkers need to put pressure on elected officials and policymakers to address the systemic failures it laid bare.
About Syracuse.com editorials
Editorials represent the collective opinion of the Advance Media New York editorial board. Our opinions are independent of news coverage. Read our mission statement. Members of the editorial board are Tim Kennedy, Trish LaMonte, Jason Murray and Marie Morelli.
To respond to this editorial: Submit a comment through the Google form above, or submit a letter or commentary to letters@syracuse.com.
If you have questions about the Opinions & Editorials section, contact Marie Morelli, editorial/opinion leader, at mmorelli@syracuse.com
https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2020/0 ... orial.html
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
THE TROY RECORD
"Rensselaer County reports no new COVID-19 cases Tuesday"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
May 26, 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — The county had good news to report during its daily coronavirus update on Tuesday.
For the first time since mid-March, there were no new COVID-19 cases to report in Rensselaer County on Tuesday.
With no new cases to report, the county's total number of confirmed cases stands at 496.
Along with no confirmed cases to report, the county also reported 28 cases cleared for recovery.
The county has now seen 389 cleared cases, which means the county currently has 107 active cases.
"This is very positive news to report, and shows there is progress being made in the fight against COVID-19," Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said.
"We appreciate those residents who have exercised common sense and competence as we deal with this public health issue and move to reopen our region."
"These numbers definitely help in the reopening process," McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin had led efforts to reopen the region by questioning incorrect numbers used by the state on hospitalizations.
Other county leaders joined in that effort, and when correct numbers were used, the region was approved for reopening.
"Beating back COVID-19 is just one part of this effort."
"Revitalizing our economy and restoring quality of life while maintaining health and safety is also our focus," McLaughlin said.
The county did report eight residents in the hospital, with none in the ICU.
There are three in Samaritan, one at Ellis, two at Albany Medical Center, and two at St. Peter's hospitals.
There have been 8,251 tests administered to residents, including 111 recorded yesterday.
There have been 28 deaths of residents due to COVID-19 in the county.
"All of the numbers are looking better and better," McLaughlin said.
The IMA Group and Lab Corp will continue to do testing at Hudson Valley Community College Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Appointments are recommended and can be made by calling 1-800-245-4245.
Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center will also be continuing testing in the county, including today, Tuesday, May 26, at the County Office Building, 1600 7th Ave., downtown Troy, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
There will also be testing at the Lansingburgh location for Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center on Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Appointments are also recommended and can be made by calling 518-465-4771, ext. 0.
"Our testing is still going strong," Rensselaer County Public Health Director Mary Fran Wachunas said.
The testing is diagnostic and determines whether a person is positive for COVID-19.
At this time, there is no anti-body testing available on a large-scale in the county.
However, several private medical providers are conducting anti-body testing, and residents interested in such tests are advised to call their medical provider.
Overview of COVID-19 Cases:
An overview of COVID-19 cases as confirmed to the Rensselaer County Health Department is now provided.
A breakdown by municipality:
Troy - 169
East Greenbush - 55
Nassau - 8
Brunswick - 24
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 34
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 46
Schaghticoke - 75*
Pittstown - 11
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 34
Berlin - 3
(*Includes 59 at the Diamond Hill adult care facility in Schaghticoke)
A breakdown by age:
19 and under - 31
20 to 29 - 96
30 to 39 - 85
40 to 49 - 52
50 to 59 - 74
60 to 69 - 63
70 to 79 - 51
80 to 89 - 23
90 to 99 - 22
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 6e9f6.html
"Rensselaer County reports no new COVID-19 cases Tuesday"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
May 26, 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — The county had good news to report during its daily coronavirus update on Tuesday.
For the first time since mid-March, there were no new COVID-19 cases to report in Rensselaer County on Tuesday.
With no new cases to report, the county's total number of confirmed cases stands at 496.
Along with no confirmed cases to report, the county also reported 28 cases cleared for recovery.
The county has now seen 389 cleared cases, which means the county currently has 107 active cases.
"This is very positive news to report, and shows there is progress being made in the fight against COVID-19," Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said.
"We appreciate those residents who have exercised common sense and competence as we deal with this public health issue and move to reopen our region."
"These numbers definitely help in the reopening process," McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin had led efforts to reopen the region by questioning incorrect numbers used by the state on hospitalizations.
Other county leaders joined in that effort, and when correct numbers were used, the region was approved for reopening.
"Beating back COVID-19 is just one part of this effort."
"Revitalizing our economy and restoring quality of life while maintaining health and safety is also our focus," McLaughlin said.
The county did report eight residents in the hospital, with none in the ICU.
There are three in Samaritan, one at Ellis, two at Albany Medical Center, and two at St. Peter's hospitals.
There have been 8,251 tests administered to residents, including 111 recorded yesterday.
There have been 28 deaths of residents due to COVID-19 in the county.
"All of the numbers are looking better and better," McLaughlin said.
The IMA Group and Lab Corp will continue to do testing at Hudson Valley Community College Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Appointments are recommended and can be made by calling 1-800-245-4245.
Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center will also be continuing testing in the county, including today, Tuesday, May 26, at the County Office Building, 1600 7th Ave., downtown Troy, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
There will also be testing at the Lansingburgh location for Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center on Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Appointments are also recommended and can be made by calling 518-465-4771, ext. 0.
"Our testing is still going strong," Rensselaer County Public Health Director Mary Fran Wachunas said.
The testing is diagnostic and determines whether a person is positive for COVID-19.
At this time, there is no anti-body testing available on a large-scale in the county.
However, several private medical providers are conducting anti-body testing, and residents interested in such tests are advised to call their medical provider.
Overview of COVID-19 Cases:
An overview of COVID-19 cases as confirmed to the Rensselaer County Health Department is now provided.
A breakdown by municipality:
Troy - 169
East Greenbush - 55
Nassau - 8
Brunswick - 24
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 34
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 46
Schaghticoke - 75*
Pittstown - 11
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 34
Berlin - 3
(*Includes 59 at the Diamond Hill adult care facility in Schaghticoke)
A breakdown by age:
19 and under - 31
20 to 29 - 96
30 to 39 - 85
40 to 49 - 52
50 to 59 - 74
60 to 69 - 63
70 to 79 - 51
80 to 89 - 23
90 to 99 - 22
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 6e9f6.html
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
NEWS10 ABC
"Rensselaer County coronavirus update, no new cases reported"
News
Posted: May 26, 2020 / 03:25 PM EDT / Updated: May 26, 2020 / 05:33 PM EDT
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Officials were happy to report on Tuesday that for the first time since mid-March there are no new confirmed cases in the county.
The total confirmed cases stands at 496.
The county now has 389 recoveries, up 28 from Monday.
There are eight people being treating in the hospital with no cases in the ICU.
The county has reported 28 COVID-19 related deaths during the pandemic.
8,251 residents have been tested in Rensselaer County.
https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer- ... -reported/
"Rensselaer County coronavirus update, no new cases reported"
News
Posted: May 26, 2020 / 03:25 PM EDT / Updated: May 26, 2020 / 05:33 PM EDT
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Officials were happy to report on Tuesday that for the first time since mid-March there are no new confirmed cases in the county.
The total confirmed cases stands at 496.
The county now has 389 recoveries, up 28 from Monday.
There are eight people being treating in the hospital with no cases in the ICU.
The county has reported 28 COVID-19 related deaths during the pandemic.
8,251 residents have been tested in Rensselaer County.
https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer- ... -reported/