ALBANY COUNTY — The news on COVID-19 continued to be grim on Dec. 26 as another county death from the disease was reported as well as 245 new cases.

Also, the Capital Region, of which Albany County is a part, continues to have the lowest percentage of intensive-care-unit beds available of any of the state’s 10 regions and among the lowest percentage of hospital beds available.

The latest county resident to succumb was a man in his eighties, according to a release from the office of Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy, bringing the county toll to 204.

Of the 245 new COVID-19 cases — which brought the county’s tally to 10,393 — three are health-care workers or residents of congregate settings, 16 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, and 226 did not have a clear source of infection identified.

The five-day average for new daily positives increased to 233.6 from 228.8. There are now 1,390 active cases in the county, down from 1,462 yesterday.

The number of county residents under mandatory quarantine decreased to 2,995 from 3,443. So far, 34,963 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 9,003 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 309 recoveries since yesterday.

There were 12 new hospitalizations reported overnight, and there are 107 county residents currently hospitalized from the virus with 19 patients in intensive-care units.

Statewide, the infection rate, based on Friday’s test results, was 5.55 percent. The Capital Region had the third-highest rate at 7.76 percent.

The highest positivity rate continues to be in the Mohawk Valley, at 8.69 percent, followed by the Finger Lakes, at 8.12 percent. The lowest rate is in the Southern Tier, at 2.94 percent.

The Capital Region currently has 361 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, which represents 0.03 percent of the region’s population and leaves 25 percent of the region’s beds available — a tie for the worst rate. Twenty-five percent is a slight improvement over Friday’s Capital Region rate of 24 percent. Central New York also has just 25 percent of its hospital beds available.

The North Country has the highest percentage of hospital beds available, at 46 percent, followed by the Southern Tier at 45 percent. Statewide, 0.04 percent of New Yorkers are hospitalized with the disease, and 31 percent of hospital beds are available.

The Capital Region has a total of 209 ICU beds of which 163 are currently occupied, leaving 19 percent available. Again, although this is the lowest percentage in the state, it is a slight improvement over Friday’s rate of 18 percent.

Statewide, 30 percent of ICU beds are available.

Misuse of vaccine?

Also on Saturday, the governor’s office put out a statement from New York’s health commissioner, Howard Zucker, on a criminal investigation into a health network in Orange County, which may not have followed the state’s plan for administering the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The State Department of Health has been made aware of reports that Parcare Community Health Network, an Orange County provider, may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines, and diverted it to members of the public — contrary to the state’s plan to administer it first to frontline health-care workers, as well as nursing-home residents and staffers,” said Zucker.

He went on to say the department takes the allegations “very seriously” and the state’s health department will help the State Police in a criminal investigation into the matter.

“Anyone found to have knowingly participated in this scheme will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” said Zucker.