ALBANY COUNTY — On Christmas morning, the county executive office announced another three residents have died of COVID-19: a woman in her sixties, a woman in her seventies, and a man in his nineties.

This brings the county’s COVID-19 death toll to 203.

“My heart breaks for the families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19, and it’s even more difficult when it happens during the holidays,” said Daniel McCoy, the county executive, in a statement with the release of the latest numbers. “My deepest sympathies go out to their families.

He went on, “Again, my message continues to be the same as we celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa. Please stay home and celebrate with members of your immediate families who live with you to stop the spread of this virus.”

Christmas wish

Also on Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted that his Christmas wish was answered: “The CDC finally mandates UK flight testing.”

A week ago, Prime Minister Boris Johsnon had shut down London and southeast England after a highly transmissible variant of COVID-19 had been discovered.

Cuomo had called for federal action and then, on his own, had New York State added to the list of 120 countries for which passengers from the United Kingdom must be tested for COVID-19 before flying to New York.

The new rule from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes effect on Monday.

Passengers arriving from Britain must test negative within 72 hours of their departure.

Hospital capacity

The state is now focusing on hospital capacity rather than just COVID-19 infection rates, which were initially used to define micro-cluster zones. Of New York’s 10 regions, the Capital Region currently has the lowest percentage of hospital beds — 24 percent —  and of intensive-care-unit beds — 18 percent — available.

According to data released by the governor’s office on Friday morning, the Capital Region, of which Albany County is a part, currently has 375 residents hospitalized with COVID-19, which is 0.03 percent of the region’s population and leaves 24 percent of its hospital beds available.

Twenty-four percent is the lowest percentage statewide of available beds. The North Country has the highest percentage of beds available, at 47 percent, followed by the Southern Tier, at 44 percent.

Statewide, 0.04 percent of New Yorkers are hospitalized with the virus, leaving 30 percent of hospital beds available.

The Capital Region has a total of 211 ICU beds of which 168 are currently occupied, leaving 18 percent available as a seven-day average.

 Eighteen percent is the lowest percentage of ICU beds available for any of the state’s 10 regions. The North Country has the highest percentage of ICU beds available at 51 percent, followed by Western New York at 42 percent. Statewide, 30 percent of ICU beds are currently available.

Statewide, based on Thursday’s test results, the rate of infection was 5.53 percent. The Capital Region had a rate of 7.63 percent — the highest yet for the region.

Of the state’s 10 regions, the Mohawk Valley continues to have the highest rate, at 8.74 percent, and the Southern Tier continues to have the lowest rate, at 2.76 percent.

Newest county numbers

On Friday morning, McCoy reported 210 new cases of COVID-19, based on Thursday’s test results, which brings the total number of confirmed cases in Albany County, since March to 10,156.

Of the 210 new cases, 172 did not have a clear source of infection identified, 27 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, 10 are health-care workers or residents of congregate settings, and one reported traveling.

The five-day average for new daily positives increased to 228.8 from 219. There are now 1,462 active cases in the county, up from 1,430 on Thursday.

The number of people under mandatory quarantine increased to 3,443 from 3,332 — another record. So far, 34,128 people have completed quarantine. Of those, 8,694 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 169 recoveries since yesterday.

There were 20 new hospitalizations reported overnight, and there are 107 county residents currently hospitalized from the virus with 19 patients in intensive-care units.