ALBANY COUNTY — This week, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Board of the World Health Organization is meeting to work out the final terms of a global pandemic agreement and will then seek ratification of WHO’s 194 member states.

The 30-page “zero draft” was released on Feb. 1.

Since then, Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, has introduced the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act, which, as its name indicates, opposes United States endorsement of the plan without Senate approval.

The zero draft says that the Intergovernmental Negotiation Board was established “in recognition of the catastrophic failure of the international community in showing solidarity and equity in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.”

The document’s objective, it says, is “to prevent pandemics, save lives, reduce disease burden and protect livelihoods, through strengthening, proactively, the world’s capacities for preventing, preparing for and responding to, and recovery of health systems from, pandemics.”

The draft sets out 18 “guiding principles and rights,” including respect for human rights, sovereignty, equity, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness, community engagement, gender equality, and science and evidence-informed decisions.

The section on sovereignty says that nations have “the sovereign right to determine and manage their approach to public health, notably pandemic prevention, preparedness, response and recovery of health systems, pursuant to their own policies and legislation, provided that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to their peoples and other countries.”

The principle of “one health” is defined this way: “Multisectoral and transdisciplinary actions should recognize the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment, for which a coherent, integrated and unifying approach should be strengthened and applied with an aim to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems, including through, but not limited to, attention to the prevention of epidemics due to pathogens resistant to antimicrobial agents and zoonotic diseases.”

The Biden administration proposed amendments to some of the articles.

“These discussions will be crucial for building a more effective health security architecture for the future, grounded in international law, equity, and the fundamental right to health for all people,” Dr. ​​Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, tweeted on Feb. 22.

He noted that, at the recent Munich Security Conference, “I said that right now, the world remains unprepared for another pandemic. While leaders have many other crises to deal with, attention on future epidemic and pandemic threats must remain or we’ll pay a heavy price.

“No crisis happened in isolation. In a world of converging and overlapping crises, we need a shared, coherent and equitable global approach to shared, global health threats.”

Albany County COVID numbers

This week, Albany County’s 155th of dealing with COVID, numbers are continuing in the right direction with fewer new cases documented. The same is true statewide and nationwide.

Two new COVID-related deaths in Albany County were reported this week by the governor’s office: one was reported on Monday, Feb. 27, and another was reported on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

The county’s dashboard, as of Tuesday, Feb. 28, showed a death toll of 622: 301 males and 321 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” five 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.”

All of the counties in New York State are still designated as either “low” or “medium.” All of the counties surrounding Albany are designated “low” except for Rensselaer County, which is also labeled “medium.”

Nationwide, similar to the last two weeks, only 2 percent of counties are labeled “high” while 20 percent are “medium,” and the great majority — 78 percent — are labeled “low.”

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 70 per 100,000 of population, a drastic drop from last week’s 77 and 94 the week before, down from 99 three weeks ago, 102 four weeks ago, 120 five weeks ago, 107 six weeks ago, and 79 seven weeks ago;

— For the important COVID hospital admission rate, Albany County has a rate of 14.8 per 100,000, down from 17.4 last week, 18.6 two weeks ago, 15.4 three weeks ago, 16.4 four weeks ago, 22.2 five weeks ago, and 16 six weeks ago; and

— Albany County now has 5.7 percent of its staffed hospital beds filled with COVID patients, down slightly from 5.9 last week and from 6.4 two weeks ago but up slightly from 5.6 three weeks ago, although down from the percentages for the previous seven weeks, which ranged from 6 to 8; 

As of Feb. 28, according to Albany County’s COVID dashboard, 39 patients were hospitalized with COVID, up from 31 last week, which was in the same range as for the three previous weeks but down from 42 five weeks ago, 43 six weeks ago, and 46 seven weeks ago.

About 42 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, for samples collected between Jan. 29 and Feb. 11, the Omicron variant made up 99 percent of new cases, down from 100 percent from the previous set of samples, collected from Jan. 15 to 28.

The Omicron sublineage XBB.1.5 dominates at 86 percent, up from 75 percent in the previous two-week period, and 39 percent in the fortnight before that; 4 percent were XBB while another 4 percent were BQ.1.1,  and 3 percent were BQ.1, and 2 percent were BA.5, while 0 percent were BA.4.

Nationwide, according to the CDC, from Feb. 19 to 25, the XBB.1.5 sublineage made up 85 percent of new cases, steadily rising from 49 percent five weeks ago, followed by BQ.1.1 at 9 percent and BQ.1 at 3 percent — both in decline.

Meanwhile, in our region, which includes New York, New Jersey, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, a whopping 98 percent of new cases are caused by the XBB.1.5 sublineage of Omicron, a still-growing percentage, followed by BQ.1.1 at 1 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.

Eight 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 7.8 cases per 100,000 of population, down from 11.0 for the last two weeks, and down from 13.9 three weeks ago, 13.6 four weeks ago, 14.7 five weeks ago, 16.2 six weeks ago, 24.4 seven weeks ago, 12.4 eight weeks ago, 12.0 nine weeks ago, and 10.9 ten weeks ago.

Numbers hovered between 8 and 11 before that, which was a fairly steady decrease from 21.8 cases per 100,000 twenty-six weeks ago.

This compares with 8.0 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 in places that once were hotspots: New York City has the lowest rate at 6.1 cases per 100,000 of population, down from 9.5 last week.

The highest count is in the North Country at 15.1 per 100,000 of population, which has been roughly the same for the last several weeks.

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, 21.3 percent percent of Albany County residents were up to date on vaccines, a gradual increase from 17.9 eleven 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 76.5 percent of New Yorkers statewide completing a vaccination series, and 13.9 percent being up to date with vaccinations, up from 10.6 eleven 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 for 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-haul” symptoms.

The next session is on Wednesday, May 10, from noon to 1 p.m. at wcb.ny.gov/webinars/#covid-19. Registration is not required. 

The one-hour session will provide information on workers’ rights when it comes to filing a workers’ compensation claim and the cash 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.

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.