Both Essex and Franklin counties reported new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, and Essex County reported more than 100 new cases in the first half of this week.

The death in Essex County was a resident of Ticonderoga Elderwood nursing home. The Essex County Health Department said the resident passed due to complications from their illness and underlying conditions. The department didn’t specify if the resident was vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, there have been 53 deaths in Essex County since the pandemic started, with 12 of those deaths — more than 20% of the county’s total deaths — occurring this month alone, according to the ECHD.

Essex County reported 153 new cases in the five-day period from Dec. 24 to Dec. 28, and more than a quarter of those new cases — 41 — are in North Elba. There were also eight cases reported in Jay, eight in St. Armand, seven in Wilmington and three in Keene during that time. There were 240 active cases in the county as of Wednesday.

The death in Franklin County was reported on Wednesday through the state Department of Health’s COVID-19 Tracker. There were 234 active cases in the county as of Thursday. There have been 30 deaths in Franklin County since the start of the pandemic.

New cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have climbed to their highest level on record, at an average of 260,000 cases per day, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. The surge is largely driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Thursday said there were 74,207 new positive COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and 76 new deaths reported by healthcare facilities through the state Health Department’s Health Electronic Response Data System.

“As the New Year approaches, it’s more important than ever that we take the necessary precautions to keep each other safe in the face of the COVID winter surge,” Hochul said in a press release. “It’s up to all of us to make 2022 a safer, healthier year than 2021 was — get vaccinated, get boosted, mask up, and avoid large indoor public gatherings when possible.”