County sees another nursing home death
CDTA bus riders may have been exposed to COVID
A fifth resident at Troy Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing has died from COVID-19, Rensselaer County officials reported Saturday.
The death comes as Rensselaer and Albany counties announced five new cases each and New York reported five deaths statewide on Friday, including one in Schenectady.
The Rensselaer County death, its 39th overall, was an 84-year-old woman who lived at the Troy Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing.
The county’s five new cases bring the total to 836, with 79 active cases.
The new cases include: a 90-year-old woman at the Diamond Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation in Schaghticoke, a 31-year-old Troy woman, a 27-yearold Schaghticoke woman, a 19-year-old Troy man and a 46-year-old Hoosick woman.
As of Saturday, there were 18 Rensselaer County residents hospitalized for COVID, including two in ICU. There were also 512 residents in monitor quarantine, including 101 due to exposure and 411 due to travel.
There have been 36,015 tests administered to date, including 599 Friday, in the county. There were no new cases cleared for recovery on Saturday. To date, there have been 718 cases cleared.
Meanwhile, County Executive Daniel P. McCoy announced Saturday there were five new cases in Albany County since Friday with no new deaths. There were 41 active cases. Since Friday, the number of people under mandatory quarantine increased to 524 from 467.
Among the new positive cases reported on Saturday, three people are health care workers or residents in private congregate settings with the workers, Mccoy said. The fourth new case reported traveling out of state, while the fifth did not have a clear source of transmission.
As a precautionary measure for possible exposure, the Albany County Department of Health is continuing to try to contact individuals who recently went to two Albany hair braiding businesses, McCoy said.
The county executive was seeking any person who went to Annie African Hair Braiding at 355 Central Ave. in Albany on Monday, Aug. 10, Tuesday, Aug. 11, between 4 and 4:30 p.m.; or Wednesday, Aug. 12, between 4 and 6 p.m.
The second salon is Adja African Hair Braiding at 622 Central Ave. in Albany, where the executive’s office is seeking contact with visitors to the business on Thursday, Aug. 13, between 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Those who were at either establishment during these periods are asked to contact the Albany County Department of Health at 518-447-4640.
Schenectady County Public Health Services also confirmed Saturday evening that an individual later diagnosed with COVID-19 rode CDTA Bus Number 370 at 7:05 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, and Thursday, Aug. 13.
Members of the public who rode the bus during those time periods may have been exposed and should monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days from that date. If symptoms develop, officials is instructing people to stay home and call the doctor, and SCPHS at 518-386-2824 option 2, for further guidance.
Older citizens, those with underlying medical conditions, or who are immunocompromised should call their doctor early even if their illness is mild. In an emergency, call 911.
Testing is also widely available, and anyone can be tested for COVID-19 by visiting one of the clinics listed at https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/find-testsite-near-you, officials said.
Schenectady County’s no-cost community testing is available on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bridge Community Center, 735 Crane St.; and Thursdays from 2-6 p.m. at Schenectady Islamic Center Parking Lot, 89 North Brandywine. Call 518-4190370 to register.
Also on Saturday morning, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced new statewide COVID-19 numbers as of Friday.
Hospitalizations had dropped to 523, a new low since March 17, Cuomo said, while the new record high number of COVID-19 tests reported to New York state was 88,668. There were five deaths statewide on Friday, including one in Schenectady County.
Cuomo said the State Liquor Authority and State Police Task Force visited 1,344 establishments in New York City and Long Island on Friday and observed 22 establishments that were not in compliance with state requirements.