The Daily Freeman reports that Ulster County announced two more deaths from coronavirus on Nov. 23, and the number of active cases there has tripled since Nov. 4. Ulster County reported 736 cases, more than three times the county’s Nov. 4 total of 240. Dutchess Countyon Nov. 23 reported a one-day increase in active cases from 724 to 731. Columbia County's health department reported 52 more cases on Nov. 22, and 28 more on Nov. 23. Those numbers are closer to what the county reported in January, when vaccines were just becoming available. Hudson City Hall was closed Nov. 23 because of a COVID-19 outbreak, and will stay shut down through Nov. 26. Across the Hudson River the numbers are growing too, with Greene County Public Health reporting Nov. 19 195 active cases, including 54 new reports in the prior two days. “I’m always concerned about the numbers,” Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said. “We do seem to be paralleling the counties around us. I think that people are tired of COVID and they’re relaxing and maybe we’re not wearing masks as often as we should. We’re just tired of it. Everybody wants to go back to normal. But it’s safe to say that COVID is not going away. It’s not going to ebb down slowly, slowly. I’m not sure if it’s mutating, which is causing it to hold on.” Greene County Legislator Chair Patrick Linger,said the county is not planning to take any action, even with the increased number of cases locally. “Not at this point,” Linger said. “We’ve held other vaccine clinics recently that only had from 2 to 11 people that showed up. That’s a waste of resources as far as I’m concerned. People can schedule an appointment at just about any pharmacy to get their vaccine. So when we put forth the effort to do a clinic and only a couple of people show up, that’s not the best use of our resources.” The only specific action Greene County officials are taking take in the face of the rising cases counts is words. “You walk into a store and probably 80 percent of the people aren’t masked up,” Groden said. “That’s where you should be masked up, where mass levels of people are gathered. Just throw a damn mask on, will you please? Don’t take the chance, because I’ve seen a lot of people with it and it sucks.”