Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan issued a state of emergency Sunday in response to rising COVID-19 rates in the county.

After tracking data, the county executive and his team noticed parallels between the rates of November 2020 and this week. They plan to use resources to possibly avoid an increase in cases, hospitalizations and fatalities in the upcoming months.

“If we look back to where we were a year ago, in November 2020, and we look at where we are in 2021, the numbers are almost exactly the same,” explained Ryan.

“What happened last year is that this was the beginning of a very steep, upward climb, and in two months, we lost 111 residents,” said Ryan.

He pointed out that number is over one-third of the county’s total fatalities.

When Ryan and county health officials noticed the rates trending upward, similar to late November 2020, he decided to jump into action by issuing a state of emergency. This will allow the county to access more testing, contact tracing and vaccination efforts to take place as the COVID-19 delta variant continues to spread, and cases of the omicron variant get closer to the states’ border. 

The recent hospitalization and positivity rates are the focus of the administration. According to the county executive, in the past month, hospitalizations have grown from six to 26 in Ulster County. Additionally, as of Monday, the county had 892 active cases, triple what was reported one month ago. With holiday gatherings on everyone’s calendar in the upcoming weeks, the county executive urges everyone to continue getting vaccinated and ensure they are up to date on boosters to ensure the safety of all guests.

“I just think it’s important that we keep in mind, ultimately, the seriousness of where we’re at,” said Ryan.