Ulster County recorded 152 new cases of Covid-19 over 24 hours, a new high, reported County Executive Pat Ryan at yesterday afternoon’s biweekly coronavirus update.
In another milestone, the total number of active cases now exceeds 2000, standing at 2044 active cases, doubling in just over two weeks ago.
Ryan also reported three new fatalities in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of county residents who have lost their lives to the virus to 115.
Ryan said a number of residents have asked why the county hasn’t yet seen increased restrictions on businesses and gatherings despite having a higher caseload than spring, when restrictions were enforced. He said the reason is because the state is tying restrictions to hospitalization rate and hospital capacity. Though Ulster’s cases have never been higher, it currently has enough hospital capacity that restrictions haven’t been imposed.
But that doesn’t mean they won’t be. Ryan said Governor Cuomo recently, “made clear that if we do not flatten this curve, there will be significant additional restrictions and possible shutdowns, so it is in all of our interest…that we work collectively to flatten this curve and do everything we can to slow the spread of Covid-19 in the county.”
Although restrictions haven’t been imposed from the top-down, many local school districts opted independently to suspend in-person instruction for the rest of the year, and a number of local restaurants have decided to close for the winter.
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