ALBANY COUNTY — Last month, Albany County broke the 100 mark for new COVID-19 infections in a single day. Already this month, the county has broken the 200 mark.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced 205 new cases Tuesday morning, based on Monday’s test results.

The county’s health commissioner, Elizabeth Whalen, said that number does not yet reflect “the full brunt of the case increase we expected to see as a result of Thanksgiving gatherings.”

She urged residents not to travel for Christmas and not to gather with people outside of their immediate household.

The “exponential growth” in cases, Whalen said, could “potentially even double our numbers by Christmas.”

She warned residents who are “out and about” to presume they will be exposed to the virus.

Her department is experiencing “a deluge of calls,” Whalen said, and has been scaling up to meet demands. With exponential growth of the virus, though, there can be a lag in getting trained staff on board to meet the needs, she said.

“We are starting to experience a backlog,” said Whalen. “To combat that backlog, I would like to ensure that people are aware of our website.”

She urged residents who test positive for the virus to look at guidance for isolation on the website, and residents who have been exposed to COVID-19 to look for guidance on following quarantine protocols.

Such guidance should be followed until someone from the health department is able to call.

Hospitalization rates usually lag about two weeks behind infection rates, said Whalen.

She urged residents, “You can still make a difference with your individual behavior and, in fact, it’s really all you can do right now … Wearing masks helps. It will decrease the overall numbers of hospitalizations and deaths.”

While the Centers for disease Control and Prevention has changed its guidance for quarantine, shortening it to seven days with a negative test or to 10 days for someone who hasn’t been tested, the New York State Department of Health has not yet changed its guidance from requiring quarantine for 14 days, so Albany County is still using 14 days, Whalen said.

“Make the sacrifice”

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan echoed McCoy and Whalen’s message at Tuesday morning’s press conference.

“It is within our power to control the destiny and the future of the city,” she said. “It is within our power to control the destiny of the small businesses within Albany County,” she said.

Sheehan said holiday parties for city workers have been cancelled “because we care about them.”

She urged residents, “Make the sacrifice … so we don’t have another holiday season where people are having that empty chair at the table.”

Because of the transparency of state and county leaders, telling “the truth” about COVID numbers, Albany County is doing well compared to other places in controlling the spread of the virus, Sheehan said.

She also spoke of the importance of cooperation — city workers have been shifted to help the county — and of compromise.

Like McCoy, Sheehan praised the compromise $980 billion COVID stimulus package currently being considered by Congress. Senator Chuck Schumer, minority leader of the Senate, has pushed to get federal aid for states and municipalities, said McCoy.

“Chuck Schumer’s been our champion,” he said.

On Dec. 26, the 12 million people depending on extended unemployment benefits will have those benefits expire. On Jan. 1, a national ban from the CDC on renter evictions is set to lapse.

“This is America’s workforce we are fighting for,” said Sheehan, referencing police, firefighters and public-health workers.

Best saliva tests

A COVID-19 saliva test developed by SUNY Upstate Medical was named number one by the Food and Drug Administration for detecting the virus in its earliest states, according to a release from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Office. It was also cited by the FDA as being among the most sensitive tests regardless of type, ranking sixth worldwide in detecting the virus.

Upstate Medical worked with Quadrant Biosciences to develop Clarifi COVID-19, which is cost effective and easy to use, the release said. Cuomo credited the test for helping SUNY campuses pinpoint cases at the earliest stages of the virus.

The FDA reviews COVID-19 tests based on the effectiveness of finding the smallest traces of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.

People administer the Clarifi COVID-19 tests themselves, swabbing their mouths and provide the saliva samples to Upstate Medical. Their samples are combined into one, which is tested for COVID-19 virus.

A negative test means that all 10 to 25 people in the group are presumed at the time to be coronavirus-free.

A positive test for the pool would mean each individual saliva sample within the pool would need to be tested again individually to pinpoint exact positive cases. The rapid retesting does not require people in the positive pool to return to submit an entirely new sample, which accelerates the process and expands testing capacity.

License suspended

An Albany County bar, Larry’s Tavern in Watervliet, was among 36 establishments to recently have its liquor license suspended “for egregious violations of coronavirus-related regulations,” Cuomo said in another release on Tuesday.

State Liquor Authority investigators “observed numerous patrons standing, drinking and walking throughout the premises without facial coverings,” the release said. “Investigators documented a bartender without a facial covering and were served alcoholic beverages without food, noting that no patrons were required to purchase food with beverages during the entirety of the inspection.”

So far, 279 establishments have had their licenses suspended and 1,867 charges have been filed.

Businesses found in violation of COVID-19 regulations face fines up to $10,000 per violation, while egregious violations can result in the immediate suspension of a bar or restaurant’s liquor license.

Newest numbers

While the state has yet to announce specific guidance for its winter plan, which the governor said will focus on hospitalizations rather than solely on infection rates to determine micro-cluster zones, it has started releasing daily more numbers on regional hospitalizations and fewer on infection rates.

Statewide, the positivity rate, based on Monday’s test results, was 5.74 percent. The Capital Region, of which Albany County is a part, had a seven-day average of 4.8 percent. The Southern Tier continued with the lowest rate at 2.16 percent. While the Finger Lakes was the highest at 7.02 percent.

As of Tuesday morning, 234 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in the Capital Region, which is .02 percent of the population and leaves 26 percent of the region’s hospital beds available.

The Capital Region has 314 beds in intensive-care units with 163 of them currently occupied; this leaves 45 percent of the region’s ICU beds available.

As of Tuesday morning, Albany County has 6,932 confirmed cases, McCoy announced.

Of the 205 new cases, 42 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, 157 did not have a clear source of infection identified at this time, and six are health-care workers or residents of congregate settings.

The five-day average for new daily positives increased to 163.6 from 150. There are now 1,282 active cases in the county, down from 1,300 yesterday.

The number of county residents under mandatory quarantine decreased to 2,286 from 2,396. So far, 26,252 Albany County residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 5,650 had tested positive and recovered.

There were 11 new hospitalizations reported overnight, and there are 88 county residents currently hospitalized from the virus — a net increase of three. Fourteen patients are now in intensive-care units, one more than on Monday. The hospitalization rate remains at 1.26 percent.

Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 169.