Health officials and medical professionals in Albany County are monitoring a concerning trend. New COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the wake of the county's new masking recommendation.

“I just hope people realize COVID is not done yet,” said CentralMed Urgent Care’s Dr. Nosa Aigbe Lebarty.

Albany County is one of two counties in the Capital Region with a “high community level” of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The rating is based on hospitalizations and hospital bed occupancy rates.

“There are a lot of factors,” said Lebarty. “Number one, we’re probably getting a little too complacent.”

County Executive Dan McCoy reported Tuesday that, since the county's last update Friday, there have been 589 new cases reported. In the last day, there have been 133. The county's seven-day average of new positive cases rose to 157.

"Our infection rate continues to rise at an alarming rate, and we are likely not detecting the full level of community spread as many at-home COVID tests go unreported," McCoy said in a statement.

Two new deaths reported, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 90s, brought Albany County's death toll since the start of the pandemic to 549. Hospitalizations were up four from a day ago, to a total of 31. Three of those are in intensive care.

The county is asking people who test positive using at-home kits to submit those results on their website through this online link.

With the CDC’s rating comes a strong recommendation of using masks while inside public spaces. Albany County leaders issued an advisory Monday to reflect that guidance.

“It’s still relevant,” Lebarty said. “Especially, in a crowded place like a grocery store and things like that.”

In addition to a rising number of infections, Lebarty said his office has treated patients with a wide range of illnesses like the common cold and stomach bugs.

“Right now, it's a little less of it compared to a couple of weeks ago,” he said. But he said the symptoms are often similar to what accompanies COVID-19 and its variants.

“The symptoms are vague and familiar,” he said. “That’s why people want to come in to say, 'I have this, I have that. I don’t think its COVID but I just want to test.'”

It’s a proactive step Lebarty and county officials are encouraging amid the latest surge.