HUDSON – The Columbia County Board of Supervisors is encouraging people to take precautions as the COVID-19 numbers rise in the county. In early November the infection rate was less than one percent.
As of Tuesday, November 24, there were 66 active cases, with 16 people hospitalized, including two patients in the ICU. “The county’s incident rate of COVID-19 infections currently stands at 1.44 percent, which sounds good, but two weeks ago we were under one percent,” said Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb.
“Our numbers are steadily climbing – it’s almost all community spread now. I’m very concerned about how these numbers will look after Thanksgiving. I realize people are already tired of hearing this, but we all need to weigh the value of taking a chance on our health by spending the holiday in a crowd of people against doing the right things. I know it’s a hard decision. However, you do not want this virus and you don’t want to be in a position where you become positive and pass it on to a loved one who is immunocompromised,” said Mabb.
Last week there was an additional death from the outbreak at Ghent Assisted Living, bringing that total to seven.
A total of 450 individuals are currently in mandatory quarantine and 45 residents of the county have died due to COVID-19.
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