ALBANY COUNTY — On Monday, while Albany County reported another COVID-19 death, bringing its toll to 342, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the state’s first case of the South African variant.

A patient in a New York City hospital for a procedure — a resident of Connecticut — tested positive for the strain, Cuomo said.

“The South African variant is the variant that they’re watching most closely. The U.K. variant is very transmissible, transmittable, but the South African variant they worry about how lethal it is and how it relates to the vaccine,” said Cuomo at his press conference.

The South African strain, known as B.1.351, was first confirmed in the United States on Jan. 28 in South Carolina. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webpage that tracks three variant strains, as of Monday evening, there were a total of 17 cases of B.1.351 across eight states.

McCoy reported, in a release, that the latest county resident to succumb to COVID-19 was a woman in her nineties.

He also reported 56 new cases since Sunday, bringing the county’s total of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 19,642.

Of the new cases, 37 did not have clear sources of infection identified, 15 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, and four are health-care workers or residents of congregate settings.

The five-day average for new daily positives has decreased to 79.6 from 85.8. There are now 728 active cases in the county, down from 786 on Sunday

The number of Albany County residents under mandatory quarantine decreased to 1,826 from 1,874. So far, 60,435 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 18,914 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 107 recoveries since Sunday.

There was one new hospitalization overnight, and there are now 65 county residents currently hospitalized from the virus. There are now 12 patients in intensive-care units, one fewer than on Sunday.

Statewide and in Albany County, infection and hospitalization rates continue to decline.

The Capital Region now has 30 percent of its hospital beds available, tied with New York City for the worst rate, according to a Monday release from the governor’s office.

Currently, 248 Capital Region residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, which is 0.02 percent of the population.

Statewide, 0.03 percent of New Yorkers are hospitalized with the virus, leaving 34 percent of the state’s hospital beds available.

The Capital Region is also tied with New York City for the worst rate of available ICU beds, at 20 percent.

Currently, 176 of the Capital Region’s 238 ICU beds are filled. Statewide, 42 percent of ICU beds are available.

As of Sunday, the Capital Region has, as a seven-day average, a 2.34 percent infection rate. Statewide, the positivity rate is 3.74 percent.

Albany County, as of Sunday, as a seven-day rolling average, has an infection rate of 2.4 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.