Area hits 90 COVID deaths
Oct. 8—ELIZABETHTOWN — The COVID-related death toll in the tri-county area hit 90 Thursday with the announcement that an Essex County resident had been hospitalized with the disease prior to succumbing to their illness.
Essex County Health Department additionally reported 45 new cases since Monday, for a total of 101 active cases.
Clinton County Health Department and Franklin County Public Health posted 79 and 77 new cases, respectively, over the preceding three days.
CCHD was monitoring 246 residents in isolation and 529 in quarantine as of Thursday. FCPH had 173 active cases — 11 of whom were inmates at Bare Hill Correctional Facility in Malone — and a total of 486 people in either isolation or quarantine.
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe's Emergency Operations Center and Health Services reported five newly-detected cases since Monday. Of the 18 active cases in Akwesasne's southern portion, two were hospitalized. The tribe said there was no update on 22 people in precautionary quarantine.
"We have been unable to identify a single source of infection," the tribes' director of communications, Brendan White, said.
"It is community spread, it is uncontrolled gatherings, social events, birthday parties, family gatherings. It's everywhere."
SEPTEMBER STATS
Earlier this week, Clinton County Health Department put out a September COVID-19 recap that provided details about the 989 new cases that occurred last month.
Sixty-four percent of September's cases were among unvaccinated individuals, and only 2% of those who experienced breakthrough cases were hospitalized, CCHD said.
Almost 25% — 242 cases — were among K-12 students, faculty and staff.
Based on age breakdowns provided to the Press-Republican by CCHD Principal Public Health Educator Molly Flynn, about 28% of cases were among those age 0 to 19.
Similarly, 28% of Essex County's 316 new cases reported from Sept. 1 to Oct. 1 were in individuals age 0 to 17, ECHD Program Coordinator Andrea Whitmarsh said.
She noted that 75% of the cases were unvaccinated individuals and that, of 16 residents hospitalized last month, 15 were unvaccinated and one was partially vaccinated.
VACCINE INCENTIVES
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe's Emergency Operations Center and Health Services reported 112 new cases in September, White said.
That constitutes more than 20% of the tribe's total cases since the pandemic started, 510 as of Thursday. White added that there were four COVID-related hospitalizations in September, but no fatalities.
So far, just shy of 4,000 tribal members have been vaccinated, bringing the community's rate up to 50.6%, White said.
As a result, the first Milestone Vaccine Incentive Drawing, through which five vaccinated people will receive $1,000, is set to take place Wednesday. The drawings will continue to occur each time the tribe's vaccination rate increases by 5%.
The tribe is also incentivizing its members and employees of the tribe, Akwesasne Mohawk Casino or tribal enterprises to get vaccinated by offering $100 gift certificates from the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort or $100 Walmart gift cards, depending on whether the individuals are older or younger than 18.
"We're pulling out all the stops," White said.
GET TESTED, VACCINATED
Testing is available throughout the tri-county area.
Go to tinyurl.com/uaa2tmcc to find a testing site near you anywhere in New York State.
All residents age 12 or older are currently eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Information on where to get the jab is available at vaccines.gov and listed on page A8.
Email Cara Chapman:
Twitter: @PPR_carachapman
