The Essex County Health Department on Monday reported 101 new cases of COVID-19 found in the past four days, more than a quarter of those, 28, in the town of North Elba.

“We have definitely seen significant spread among family members sharing a household, among private gatherings or workplace-related spread,” Essex County Health Department Program Coordinator Andrea Whitmarsh said Monday, when asked whether there was an outbreak or a cluster of cases in North Elba. “I don’t think we’ve been able to identify any events/venues that have been the source of the spike in cases.”

In the past week, the county has reported a total of 208 new cases — more than 21% of those have been within the town of North Elba, which includes the village of Lake Placid, the hamlet of Ray Brook and part of the village of Saranac Lake. Eight were in nursing homes, prisons or other congregate living settings, according to the health department. The county has also reported two new deaths in the past week, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths to 39 countywide.

From Oct. 25 to Nov. 1, 327 cases were reported; the week before that, 187 new cases were reported, county Health Department data shows. The county Health Department is working on compiling a report on its October case data, including the number of hospitalizations, vaccination statuses, and the number of cases in schools and congregate settings.

The county Health Department has scheduled five new vaccine clinics throughout the county, one of those at the North Elba Show Grounds. The clinic is scheduled for Nov. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The department will have vaccines approved for children ages 5-11, plus Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson and Moderna booster shots available. The county also plans to have one of its “Hometown Healthcare Heroes” — a pediatrician or family health practitioner — on site to answer questions. Anyone interested in getting vaccinated or getting a booster shot at the county’s clinic can register at www.co.essex.ny.us/health/make-an-appointment.

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Cases rising in rural areas

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Though the number of new COVID-19 cases found nationwide has remained somewhat stable recently — hovering around 70,000 per day, according to the New York Times — here, the coronavirus continues to spread faster now than it did last year. In the first week of November last year, the Essex County Health Department reported a total of 11 new cases of COVID-19. That was before any COVID-19 vaccines were authorized for use in the U.S., while some travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines for travelers were still in place, and while mask wearing was still required in New York state. That was also before the highly-contagious delta variant became the dominant strain of the coronavirus in the U.S.

Counties with the lowest vaccination rates — mostly rural counties — are currently experiencing the highest percentages of tests coming back positive in New York state, the Albany Times-Union reported Monday.

Manhattan, with 85% of residents at least partially vaccinated, had a seven-day average test positivity rate below 1%, according to the Times-Union. Lewis County and Washington County, however, saw between 8-9% of tests come back positive as of Saturday; as of Monday, 49.3% of residents in Lewis County and 61.2% of residents in Washington County had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In Essex County, 66.9% of the population is at least partially vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health. In Franklin County, 55.6% of the population has gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

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Franklin County

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Franklin County Public Health reported 17 new positives on Monday. The department has reported 154 new cases and one new COVID-19 related death in the past week. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe also reported two new COVID-19 related deaths within the last week.

There were 35 positive cases in Tupper Lake, 16 in Harrietstown, three in Brighton and three in Santa Clara as of this past Wednesday, the latest date that town-level data was available.

Statewide, 3,480 COVID-19 tests came back positive Monday, or 3.12% of 111,451 tests processed. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office reported 30 new deaths from COVID-19 statewide.