The first week of 2022 has brought new three new COVID-19-related deaths in Franklin County, two more deaths in Essex County, and hundreds of new cases in both counties.

The Essex County Health Department said both people who died this week were vaccinated but had not gotten a booster shot. One was in their 30s and had preexisting health conditions, making them vulnerable to the illness. Franklin County officials did not provide more information on the deaths they reported because the death notifications came through the state’s COVID-19 tracker, and the health department did not have more details available right away.

Franklin County has seen a total of 33 COVID-related deaths throughout the pandemic and Essex County has seen a total of 55.

In the first week of the year, Franklin County recorded 366 new COVID-19 cases, and Essex County recorded 798.

ECHD Program Coordinator Andrea Whitmarsh said with the county’s new positive case reporting system, there could be some duplicates in these statistics if anyone reported both an at-home test and a lab test — but this is not common, she said, and the county weeds these out before officially recording its numbers.

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Active cases

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There were 298 active cases of COVID-19 in Franklin County on Friday.

Four of those active cases were inmates at state correctional facilities, three in Bare Hill Correctional and one in Upstate Correctional, both in Malone.

A map Franklin County Public Health produced using data from Wednesday showed Harrietstown was the county’s COVID epicenter, with 89 active cases. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe had 84, Tupper Lake had 60 and Malone, the largest population center in the county, had 32.

ECHD is no longer providing a town-by-town breakdown of where new COVID-19 cases are appearing because with the high load of cases coming in each day, Whitmarsh said the county decided it would be better for ECHD’s limited staff to spend their time focusing on more valuable work.

“I realize everybody wants to know where those cases are,” she said. “Assume it’s everywhere, because it is. We are a very mobile society.”

Whitmarsh said she hopes people don’t change their behavior based on how common COVID-19 is in a town — they should always wear a mask, socially distance and be careful around others.

On Friday, there were six COVID-19 positive patients hospitalized at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake. One was on a ventilator.

Isolation order changes

Last week, ECPH changed the way residents get isolation and quarantine orders to a self-serve online system. This measure is needed, they said, to keep up with the massive amount of new orders they are required to issue each day.

Whitmarsh said the change has had “bumps,” but has allowed staff to focus on vaccinations and testing, and made the process of getting these orders from the county easier for residents.

She said ECHD is doing fewer case investigations, focusing on doing them for people in vulnerable populations.

“With the current surge in cases, we wanted to improve the timeliness of case investigation and contact tracing,” ECHD Director Linda Beers said in a statement. “The option for residents to access isolation and quarantine orders from our website does just that for those who haven’t yet been reached by our team.”

Franklin County is also moving to a self-serve isolation and quarantine process. The Public Health department plans to launch it next week.

People who test positive and need documentation to stay home from work or school can complete these forms online. The forms will have the same effect as an order of isolation from FCPH.

FCPH says people who test positive should notify those they’ve been around to warn them of their exposure. People who test positive from at-home tests are asked to report their results to FCPH through a form on its website.

“The basic elements of isolation and quarantine are not changing; however, this process now emphasizes personal responsibility for doing the right thing and I commend the vast majority of our citizens who have complied with public health orders,” FCPH Director Katie Strack said in a statement.

She said this change will allow the department to focus on offering vaccinations and focus on limiting the spread of the virus in other ways.

Both counties have shortened isolation and quarantine periods to five days, aligning with the latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Franklin County Manager Donna Kissane said the county received 4,556 test kits from the state this week. Because that’s a limited supply, she said the county will distribute them to where they’re needed most — low income housing complexes, homeless shelters, the Office for the Aging, Veteran’s Affairs, Department of Social Services and JCEO programs.

But she said the state Homeland Security office said more kits will come each week, so the county will continue to distribute those.

Kissane also said “guidance on nursing home visitations will change in the near future.”