Essex Co. reports 34 new cases
Multiple positives tied to summer camp
Thirty-four new cases of COVID-19 have been found since this past Thursday, including a cluster of cases at a summer camp, the Essex County Health Department reported Monday.
The new cases announced this week include 15 cases in Minerva, five in North Elba and five in St. Armand, four in Wilmington, two in Ticonderoga and one each in Keene, Newcomb and Willsboro, for a total of 34 new cases since this past Thursday — 44 residents, total, are in isolation in Essex County. That’s up from 18 people in isolation one week prior, and 12 people in isolation the week before that.
Among the new cases is a cluster found at a summer camp “where many were not eligible for vaccination,” the health department wrote in a news release Monday. Children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.
Asked to confirm where the summer camp was located, and to confirm how many people who tested positive — if any — were fully vaccinated, the health department did not immediately respond Monday evening.
Earlier this month, the health department released a report on the number of breakthrough cases that showed 17 breakthrough cases since January, but that sort of information isn’t typically included in the department’s bi-weekly COVID updates.
The vast majority of new coronavirus infections across the country are among unvaccinated people. It’s rare for vaccinated people to get “breakthrough” infections, but when it happens, the vaccines largely prevent serious illness, according to the Associated Press.
In neighboring Franklin County, there were 54 people in isolation with COVID-19 as of Monday — 10 of those cases were new, according to Franklin County Public Health. There was also 76 people in quarantine as of Monday.
As of this past Thursday, the most recent day when town-level data was updated, there were nine positive cases on the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe reservation, seven positive cases in Harrietstown, five in Malone, three in Tupper Lake, three in Bangor, two in Moira, two in Waverly, and one each in Bombay, Brighton, Burke, Constable, Dickinson and Fort Covington.
The state Department of Health reported 3,575 new cases of COVID-19 statewide on Monday. Altogether, 99,005 test results were reported to the state Health Department, 3.61% of them positive. That’s up from 3.09% on Sunday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance last month asking even those who are vaccinated to wear masks indoors in areas where there is a high level of community spread, meaning a high number of cases where the source of a person’s infection is unknown.
Essex County now has “substantial” community spread and Franklin County, “high” spread, according to the CDC. Those who are unvaccinated must always wear masks indoors.
The highly infectious Delta variant is now the dominant strain of the virus in the U.S.
New research has shown that those who are vaccinated and subsequently infected with the Delta variant may be just as contagious as unvaccinated people, even if they don’t experience any symptoms, according to the New York Times. This contradicts earlier studies, which showed that vaccinated people who were infected with previous strains of the virus — not the Delta variant — were largely unable to infect others, according to the Times.
The symptoms of the Delta variant are the same as other strains: fever, dry cough, difficulty breathing, muscle aches, fatigue, temporary loss of taste or smell.
Essex County residents interested in getting vaccinated against COVID-19 can visit www.co.essex.ny.us/health/make-an-appointment to find dates and times for vaccine clinics run by the county Health Department. Franklin County residents can call 518-481-1710 for more information about where to get vaccinated. Vaccine appointments can also be made at many local pharmacies.