The number of COVID cases in Schoharie County is the worst it’s ever been.
Friday, the state Health Department reported 49 new cases of COVID here, most of them traced to the Delta variant.
That’s 15 more than the previous high of 33 of nearly a year ago, January 14, 2021.
And Tuesday, the state Health Department reported an additional COVID death.
“Most of the numbers are being driven by people who aren’t vaccinated,” said Schoharie County Public Health director Amy Gildemeister, who’s concerned to see local hospitals near-capacity in their ICUs.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Bassett Cooperstown has 10 COVID patients and with just two available ICU beds, is at 94 percent capacity.
Cobleskill Regional Hospital has three COVID patients and does not have ICU beds.
Ellis Hospital, Schenectady; Glens Falls Hospital, and St. Mary’s, Amsterdam are all at 100 percent ICU capacity.
State Health Department numbers for Saturday and Sunday showed a little improvement—22 and 31—but Sunday, the Schoharie County Health Department started warning that some hospitals are running out of hospital beds.
“That could make it very difficult for someone to find a bed for say, a car accident or a heart attack. Things you can’t plan for,” Dr. Gildemeister said.
It’s also likely hospitals will start curtailing or canceling non-emergency procedures, she said.
Countywide school numbers are also showing a jump, doubling from an average of 25 over a 14-day period to 50 COVID cases December 1.
So far, most of the new cases are pre-Thanksgiving, Dr. Gildemeister said, but she’s expecting to see numbers continue to climb through the end of the year as families gather for the Christmas holidays and some related events are held without COVID precautions.
“We’re just continuing to vaccinate as many people as we can,” she said, with clinics at schools for kids, adults, and boosters, drawing steady crowds.
“We’re hoping to get through mid-January without too big a crunch and hopefully, the numbers will start falling again.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control Monday, from Sunday, November 28-Saturday, December 4, there were 179 new cases for a 11.59 percent positivity rate and four new hospital admissions.
Tuesday, those figures were 221 new COVID cases over the past seven days, a positivity rate of 12.36 percent, five new hospital admissions, and an additional death.
Countywide, 25 people have died from COVID—a death rate that puts it substantially below that of neighboring counties, likely because there are no nursing homes here, Dr. Gildemeister said.
Sixty percent of county residents are fully vaccinated.
“What we continue to tell people is get vaccinated,” Dr. Gildemeister said.
“Be cautious—especially when you don’t know someone’s vaccination status. Mask when you can’t social distance. Shop locally. When you get together with family and friends, look for ways that are safe and make sense.”