HUDSON — COVID-19 cases in Columbia County remain steady at the same time that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance on how the public should handle exposure to the coronavirus.
The Columbia County Department of Public Health reported Aug. 12 the county had 83 new COVID cases for the prior five-day period, with 12 county residents hospitalized and one patient in intensive care.
An unidentified resident died of COVID, the county health department announced Aug. 10, marking the 153rd fatality in the county linked to the virus since the pandemic began in March 2020.
FASNY Firemen’s Home Administrator Keith Henchey said Monday the Hudson facility has one active COVID case among its resident population. The infected resident is in isolation, Henchey added.
State regulations require nursing home visitors to provide a negative COVID test to visit residents. The FASNY nursing home provides the rapid virus tests to potential visitors to the facility, Henchey said.
“When you come in, you not only have to have a negative test, but you also have to maintain infection control protocols while you’re in,” Henchey said. “You need to wear a mask, you need to socially distance and you need to use hand sanitizer.”
According to a statement from the county health department, while the state has lifted the indoor mask mandate for businesses, officials continue to encourage residents to wear masks indoors, particularly people with health problems.
The CDC issued new guidelines Aug. 11 that noted that while COVID continues to spread globally, there is significantly less risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death compared to earlier in the pandemic due to the tools developed by the medical community over the past two years.
Under the new guidelines, the CDC is recommending that vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals who are exposed to COVID no longer need to quarantine and can instead wear a high-quality mask for 10 days and get tested on the fifth day.
Regardless of vaccination status, the CDC is recommending that anyone who tests positive for COVID isolate from others in their home. The isolation may end after five days if the individual has improved symptoms or did not experience symptoms.
“We’re in a stronger place today as a nation, with more tools — like vaccination, boosters and treatments — to protect ourselves, and our communities, from severe illness from COVID-19,” CDC Branch Chief Greta Massetti said in a statement. “We also have a better understanding of how to protect people from being exposed to the virus, like wearing high-quality masks, testing and improved ventilation. This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.”
Columbia County remained at a low level of community risk for COVID transmission as of Aug. 8, according to the CDC. There were 20.4 new daily cases in the county per 100,000 residents, with a positive test rate of 12.1%.
