Raymond Pignone reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said this week that hospitalizations related to the coronavirus have reached a low for the year in his county. There were nine people in area hospitals Sept. 29, with three in the Intensive Care Unit and one person on a ventilator. But at the same time, total cases were at 129, down slightly from the Sept. 11 high of the summer of 152 cases. “I think it’s reasonable to say at this point that the higher-than-expected positive cases we’ve had over the summer months will continue on into the fall and likely increase with all of us moving inside more,” Mabb said. “I hope this downward trend in hospitalizations continues. Maybe this is confirmation of what we’ve been told by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others that the variants we’re seeing now may be more contagious but less virulent.” Of the current new cases 47 residents and 13 staff had tested positive from the Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing/Barnwell in Valatie. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.