ALBANY — The county reported two men in their 50s and 60s died of COVID-19 overnight Saturday – making the weekend death toll from the virus in Albany County three.
A woman also died, the county announced Saturday. On Sunday county officials said the victim was in her 70s.
Daily case counts also continue to be as high as witnessed post the holiday surge earlier in 2021, with 80 confirmed coronavirus cases reported Sunday. The pandemic is once again flaring up as all pandemic shutdowns are over, and the new delta variant is more contagious and causing serious illness in those who have not been vaccinated.
There have been deaths from those who are vaccinated, but they typically have been in people who suffered from serious health conditions prior to being vaccinated. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from earlier in August showed that hospitalizations and deaths happened in less than .1 percent of the more than 166 million people in the U.S.who had been vaccinated.
The Albany County death toll is inching closer to 400, as coronavirus-related deaths now stand at 392 in the county since cases began to be tracked in March 2020.
Statewide 27 people died from coronavirus Saturday into Sunday.
The Capital Region has the highest level of infections based on a seven-day average, with 4.56 percent of samples coming back positive as of Saturday. Statewide the average was 3.29 percent Saturday.
There were 26 Albany County residents in the hospital Sunday with COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.
The CDC is advising people to once again wear masks indoors – regardless of vaccination status. What are called “breakthrough” cases of COVID-19 do happen in vaccinated individuals. Those people can then spread the highly contagious delta variant to the unvaccinated, which can then cause serious illness.
Warren County said two of its eight confirmed cases Sunday were in the vaccinated. “As the delta variant of COVID-19 has spread and the number of vaccinated residents has increased, the number of ‘breakthrough’ cases of COVID involving vaccinated individuals has been increasing as well,” Warren County said Sunday.
“It breaks my heart to have to report two more residents who lost their battle with COVID overnight, especially after having just announced another death yesterday,” said Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said in a statement.
“COVID isn’t done with us yet, and we still need to do more to get more people vaccinated, despite having now hit the major milestone of an 80 percent first dose vaccination rate for our adult (over 18) population. And until then, I continue to strongly urge everyone to wear masks in public places, because we know the delta variant can still be spread by those who are vaccinated,” he said.