Virus at its worst in Warren, Washington counties

We will miss the Christmas house in Glens Falls

The Front Page

Morning Update

Sunday, November 21, 2021

By Ken Tingley

It has been four weeks since the Adirondack Thunder sold out its hockey home opener.

It was a great moment to see the Civic Center filled and another sign that things were returning to normal, especially with vaccination rates flirting with 70 percent.

Sadly, Covid-19 cases are approaching, and in some cases surpassing, what they were at the height of the pandemic. Since the hockey sellout at the Cool Insuring Arena, Covid-19 cases have skyrocketed around the region.

Warren and Washington County neighbors now have the two highest infection rates in the state.

On Saturday, Warren County reported a single-day record 82 new cases to bring the number of active cases of Covid to 586. Of those 586 cases, 562 have at least a mild illness. But consider this, there are also 45 hospitalizations with seven in intensive care.

Washington County has had the highest infection rate in the state for most of this past week. And Warren County is catching up. One out of every 68 people in Washington County has been infected. One out of every 90 in Warren County has been infected.

Here is something that should get your attention. Those infection rates are also among the highest in the country.

Neither the Adirondack Thunder, nor anyone at the Cool Insuring Arena, did anything wrong. State guidelines allow buildings under 5,000 capacity to operate without requiring vaccination proof or testing. Those who aren’t vaccinated are required to wear masks. But we all know how that works. So what the hockey folks did was limit the number of tickets to 4,999. Very few of them were wearing masks.

Having 5,000 people in one place in our community is a lot. It is one-tenth of the entire population of Warren County. It would be nice if our community members - vaccinated or not - would commit itself to masks again.

The vaccinations seems to have emboldened many to forgo this simple act. Anecdotally, fewer and fewer people seem to be wearing masks indoors in public places.

Keep this in mind as well. The death toll from Covid-19 is 789,310 in the United States. The disease is gaining traction in Europe again. Austria has imposed a lockdown beginning on Monday and Germany is considering it.

There are millions of people who remain unvaccinated. There are thousands who have no idea that free vaccination clinics are being held throughout the region.

Let’s get the masks back on this holiday season. Let’s have a “happy” and “healthy” season.

And maybe it’s time for everyone to wear a mask at the hockey game. After all, the players do.

No, not the lights

For three decades, Paul Smith’s house on Clayton Avenue in Glens Falls has been a must stop during the Christmas season.

Four years ago, The Post-Star reported that Smith’s house now includes 12,000 lights, a Nativity scene, singing snowmen, a miniature Christmas village and more than 30 interactive push-button displays.

This is our version of the windows on Saxs Fifth Avenue.

But one of my former reporters is telling me that the show will not go on this year because of because of Smith’s health issues.

One of my former reporters at The Post-Star reports that Smith’s health is keeping him from putting out the decorations this year, but he wants to make an impact in a different way by asking folks to make donations to the Open Door.

I know Smith was planing on shutting down at least one other time because of illness, but the community rallied to help him. The Smith Christmas house is such a holiday landmark in Glens Falls, it would be nice to see the community rally around him again.

At the very least, make a donation as he suggests.

Girard scores 27

Colgate shocked Syracuse on Saturday, but Glens Falls grad Joe Girard III continues the outstanding start to his season with a 27-point effort to lead the Orange. He also had seven rebounds and eight assitsts. Girard is averaging nearly 20 points per game over his first three games.

Tweet of the Day

Brian Mann @BrianMannADK

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