Columbia County broke its own record for new COVID-19 cases, reporting 28 on Dec. 17. The day before, Columbia County reported 23 new cases, which at that time was the largest number of new coronavirus cases announced in a day. Greene County did not make any announcement about coronavirus on Dec. 17, which is odd for a weekday. There were 90 new cases of COVID-19 reported by the Rensselaer County Health Department on Dec. 17, for a total of 898 active cases. Albany County announced 222 new COVID-19 cases and five new deaths on Dec. 17. “And while we bounce back from the storm, we’re still grappling with the COVID crisis on our hands, as we see our daily positive cases and the number of residents hospitalized reach record levels," Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said. "County hospitalizations have been trending upwards since Friday, reaching its peak of 100 today. The only way we’re going to turn this around is by staying home as much as possible, avoiding large gatherings, and wearing a mask when out in public."