ALBANY COUNTY — This week, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced an almost 70-percent jump from last week of the seven-day rolling average for new cases of COVID-19 in the United States.

Walensky termed it “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Places with low vaccination rates are driving the increases. Most of the new cases are of the highly contagious Delta variant.

The Capital Region, of which Albany County is a part, has the highest COVID-19 infection rate of any of the state’s 10 regions.

On Tuesday, the seven-day average for the Capital Region was 1.89 percent, according to a release from the governor’s office. The region with the lowest infection rate was the Southern Tier at 0.79 percent.

Also, as of Tuesday as a seven-day rolling average, the statewide positivity rate was 1.4 percent, according to the state’s dashboard, while Albany County’s rate was 1.7 percent.

The number of active cases in Albany County has also climbed from single-digit counts last week to 58 reported by Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy on Wednesday morning.

As case counts rose on both sides of the Atlantic, the CDC on Monday advised avoiding travel to the United Kingdom as the Delta variant of Covid-19 continues to spread.

At the same time, Canada — with nearly 70 percent of its residents at least partially vaccinated — announced this week that nonessential Americans, like tourists, who are fully vaccinated and have proof of negative COVID-19 tests would be able, starting Aug. 9, to enter Canada.

Also this week, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory declaring health misinformation, including about COVID-19 vaccinations, an “urgent threat to public health.”

“Modern technology companies have enabled misinformation to poison our information environment, with little accountability to their users,” he said.

While for the last several weeks, McCoy in his weekday releases had announced new COVID-19 cases in the single digits, this week that number hit double digits several times — McCoy reported 12 new cases on Friday, July 16; 21 new cases on Monday, July 19; and 11 new cases on Wednesday, July 21. 

The county has had a total of 24,529 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

On Tuesday, July 20, McCoy announced the COVID-19 death of an Albany County man in his fifties, previously reported by New York State.

This brings the county’s pandemic death toll to 388.

“This is an unfortunate reminder that despite the progress we’ve made in getting people vaccinated, COVID-19 is still a threat and we need to do more to protect our community,” said McCoy in a statement.

As of Wednesday evening, 65.9 percent of Albany county’s 307,117 residents had had at least one dose of vaccine, according to the state’s vaccine tracker; 61.5 percent are fully vaccinated. The first-dose vaccination rate for the county residents 18 and older is now up to 76.6 percent, McCoy reported.

Statewide, the tracker reported on Wednesday evening, 59.5 percent of New Yorkers had received at least one dose of vaccine and 54.8 percent had completed a series.

Albany County continues to run pop-up vaccination sites and continues to deliver vaccines to homebound residents, which includes seniors, people with disabilities, and those lacking childcare. Anyone who would like to schedule a time for a vaccine appointment should call 518-447-7198.

Albany County residents may also receive free Pfizer vaccines Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Albany County Department of Health ast 175 Green Street. Anyone 12 or older is eligible. No appointments are needed and walk-ins are welcome.