ALBANY COUNTY — Even as many health experts are considering COVID-19 to now be endemic — more manageable than a pandemic — long COVID continues to puzzle researchers as well as health-care professionals.

Last month, Nature Reviews Microbiology published “Long Covid: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations,” which says the often debilitating illness occurs in at least 10 percent of severe cases.

“More than 200 symptoms have been identified with impacts on multiple organ systems,” the exhaustive review says, describing effects on the heart, lungs, immune system, pancreas, reproductive system, blood vessels, kidney, spleen, and liver.

At least 65 million people worldwide are estimated to have long COVID, the review says, with cases increasing daily.

 Current diagnostic and treatment options are insufficient, the authors conclude, urging that clinical trials addressing leading hypotheses be prioritized.

“Although research into long COVID has been expansive and has accelerated, the existing research is not enough to improve outcomes for people with long COVID,” the review says. “To ensure an adequate response to the long COVID crisis, we need research that builds on existing knowledge and is inclusive of the patient experience, training and education for the health-care and research workforce, a public communication campaign, and robust policies and funding to support research and care in long COVID.”

Symptoms from long COVID can last for years, the review says. “With significant proportions of individuals with long COVID unable to return to work, the scale of newly disabled individuals is contributing to labour shortages,” the authors write, adding, “There are currently no validated effective treatments.”

Albany County numbers

This week, Albany County’s 152nd of dealing with COVID, two new COVID-related deaths were reported on Thursday, Feb. 2, by the governor’s office.

The county’s dashboard, as of Tuesday, Jan. 31, still shows a death toll of 617: 299 males and 318 females.

Also this week, Albany County’s designation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has remained at a “medium” community level of COVID-19 after being labeled “high” two weeks ago.

The county had been designated “medium” by the CDC for the four weeks prior to the “high” designation, which followed two weeks of a “low” designation. That was preceded by four weeks of being labeled “medium” after 13 weeks of being labeled “high.”

Only one county in New York State is now labeled “high”: Richmond, also known as Staten Island.

And, nationwide, only 4 percent of counties are labeled high while 26 percent are “medium,” and the great majority — 70 percent — are labeled “low.” this is nearly the same as last week.

The weekly metrics the CDC used to determine the current “medium” level for Albany County are:

— Albany County now has a case rate of about 99.18 per 100,000 of population, the same as last week, but down from 102 two weeks ago, 120 three weeks ago, and 107 four weeks ago but up from 79 five weeks ago and higher than almost all the case counts for the two months before that, except for the high of 104 ten weeks ago;

— For the important COVID hospital admission rate, Albany County has a rate of 15.4 per 100,000, down from 16.4 last week, and significantly down from 22.2 two weeks ago, and 16 four weeks ago; and

— Albany County now has 5.6 percent of its staffed hospital beds filled with COVID patients, down from 6.3 last week, 7.2 two weeks ago, 7.9 three weeks ago, 7.1 percent four weeks ago, and 6.5 percent five weeks ago.

As of Feb. 7, according to Albany County’s COVID dashboard, 34 patients were hospitalized with COVID, down from 35 last week, 36 two weeks ago, 42 three weeks ago, 43 four weeks ago, 46 five weeks ago, and 36 six weeks ago, which was up from 30 seven weeks ago, and 24 eight weeks ago.

About 30 percent of the Capital Region residents hospitalized with COVID this week were not admitted because of having the virus, according to a chart from the governor’s office.

In New York State, according to the health department’s most recent figures, from Jan. 15 to 28, the Omicron variant made up 100 percent of new cases with the sublineage XBB.1.5 dominant at 75 percent, up from 39 percent in the previous two-week period; 10 percent were BQ.1.1 while 6 percent were BQ.1,  5 percent were XBB, and 2 percent were BA.5.

Nationwide, according to the CDC, from Jan.29 to Feb. 4, the XBB.1.5 sublineage made up 66 percent of new cases, up from 61 percent the week before and 49 percent two weeks ago, followed by BQ.1.1 at 20 percent and BQ.1 at 7 percent.

Meanwhile, in our region, which includes New York, New Jersey, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, a whopping 92 percent of new cases are caused by the XBB.1.5 sublineage of Omicron, followed by BQ.1.1 at 4 percent and BQ.1 at 2 percent.

Although figures on infection rates are no longer reliable since tracing and tracking systems have been disbanded, the state dashboard shows that cases in Albany County as well as statewide have continued to decline in recent weeks.

Five weeks ago, rates for both the state and county had jumped after having leveled off in November following two months of climbing.

Albany County, as a seven-day average, has 13.9 cases per 100,000 of population, up just slightly from last week’s 13.6 but down from 14.7 two weeks ago, 16.2 three weeks ago, and 24.4 four weeks ago but still higher than 12.4 five weeks ago, 12.0 six weeks ago, 10.9 seven weeks ago, and 13.5 eight weeks ago.

The current rate is up from numbers hovering between 8 and 11 nine weeks ago, which was a fairly steady decrease from 21.8 cases per 100,000 twenty-four weeks ago.

This compares with 13.0 cases per 100,000 statewide, down from rates over the last month in the twenties following a fairly steady decrease from 30.03 per 100,000 of population five months ago.

The lowest rates are still in the Southern Tier at 11.9 cases per 100,000 as a seven-day average, which is up from 10.6 cases last week, and from the low two weeks ago of 11.5 in the Finger Lakes.

The highest count is 15.2 cases per 100,000 in Central New York, which is down from last week’s high of 18.3 in Mid-Hudson at 18.3, and Long Island’s count in the twenties for several weeks prior.

The numbers for vaccination in Albany County have hardly budged for several months. The state’s dashboard now reports on these two categories:

— People with a primary series, for those who have completed the recommended initial series of a given COVID-19 vaccine product — two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine; and

— People who are up to date, for those who have completed all COVID-19 vaccinations, including the bivalent booster, as appropriate per age and clinical recommendations.

As of Tuesday, 20.9 percent percent of Albany County residents were up to date on vaccines, a gradual increase from 17.9 eight weeks ago, as opposed to the 61.5 percent of eligible residents who had received booster shots, as reported in prior weeks.

At the same time, 76.2 percent of county residents have completed a primary series, nearly the same as the last several weeks.

This compares with 76.4 percent of New Yorkers statewide completing a vaccination series, and 13.6 percent being up to date with vaccinations, up from 10.6 nine weeks ago.

New Yorkers are being encouraged by the state’s health department to get bivalent COVID-19 vaccine boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for anyone age 5 or older and from Moderna for those 6 or older.

To schedule an appointment for a booster, New Yorkers are to contact their local pharmacy, county health department, or healthcare provider; visit vaccines.gov; text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations.

Workers’ comp

The Workers’ Compensation Board is continuing its webinar series to help workers who believe they contracted COVID-19 on the job, especially those who have missed time from work or are suffering from ongoing or long-COVID symptoms.

The one-hour sessions provide information on workers’ rights when it comes to filing a workers’ compensation claim and the cash and/or medical benefits they may be eligible to receive.

While the online sessions are targeted toward workers who have lost time from work, have ongoing medical problems, or fall into the category of “long haulers,” the information is relevant to anyone who believes they may have contracted COVID-19 due to an exposure at work.

Workers have two years from the time they contracted COVID-19 to file a claim.

Registration is not required. The next session is on Wednesday, March 1, at noon. Another session is scheduled for Wednesday, May 10, also at noon.

More information on COVID-19 may be found on the board’s website, including information on how to file a COVID-19 workers’ compensation claim and a link to search for a board-authorized health care provider.