The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Essex and Franklin counties is climbing, but the reality is likely far higher than the numbers released by each county’s health department, as testing in the North Country is still severely limited.

The two counties’ three hospitals — Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone and Elizabethtown Community Hospital — have restricted COVID-19 testing to hospital inpatients and health care workers in an effort to conserve testing materials amid a nationwide shortage.

Health care providers are encouraged, but not required to report to county health departments the number of patients who they have told to self-quarantine.

Public health officials such as Essex County Public Health Director Linda Beers have said this area is now facing “community spread” — meaning there are now confirmed cases where the source of a person’s exposure to the virus is unclear. But with limited testing, it’s difficult to gauge how many people in North Country communities actually have COVID-19, or even how many were told by doctors that they probably do.

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Franklin County

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As of 8:30 a.m. Sunday Franklin County had:

¯ 9 — Positive tested individuals, none new from Saturday

¯ 146 — Negative test results received, up from 141 Saturday

¯ 97 — Individuals in quarantine or isolation, up from 94 Saturday

¯ 14 — Suspected positive, which means a provider has clinically determined patient is suspect for COVID-19

¯ 23 — Total positive

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Essex County

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As of Sunday, at 3:30 p.m. Essex County had:

¯ 9 — Positive tested individuals, none new from Saturday

¯ 5 — Suspected positive, which means a provider has clinically determined patient is suspect for COVID-19. None new from Saturday

¯ 14 — Total positive, none new from Saturday

¯ 3 — Total recovered, which means people who tested positive and have now recovered, up from 2 Saturday

¯ 109 — Total tests processed, up from 103 Saturday Total positives, recovered and tests numbers reflect the total number since tracking for COVID-19 began.

¯ 9 — Isolation, down from 10 Saturday

¯ 23 — Mandatory quarantine, up from 22 Saturday

¯ 10 — Precautionary quarantine, down from 19 Saturday

Current isolation and quarantine numbers reflect the current number of active isolation and quarantine orders on this day.