ECHD Program Coordinator Andrea Whitmarsh said this person was unvaccinated and hospitalized prior to their death. She said the cause was “complications due to their COVID illness.”

The latest data for Essex County, on Nov. 10, showed 202 active cases of coronavirus in the county.

Franklin County reported 92 new coronavirus cases over the weekend, 47 on Saturday and 45 on Sunday. The current number of active cases in the county is 234.

There are 612 individuals in isolation or quarantine after testing positive or coming in contact with someone who tested positive.

Mercy Living Center in Tupper Lake was in an outbreak, with 14 residents and three staff testing positive before the weekend.

Seven of the new Franklin County cases are inmates at Franklin Correctional, a state prison in Malone.

Before the weekend, health officials in the county said they were seeing a virus “spike” after Halloween.

They are asking that everyone wear masks indoors, physically distance from others and meet outside when possible.

The virus is spreading faster here, now, than it was at this time last year. Last year, in the first week of November, Franklin County Public Health reported 49 new cases of COVID-19. That was before the COVID-19 vaccines, back when some travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines for travelers were still in place, and while New York still required masks to be worn in businesses. But, that was also before the highly-contagious delta variant became the dominant strain of the coronavirus in the U.S. This year, in the first week of November, the department reported 154 new COVID-19 cases.

Franklin County Public Health data from Nov. 12 shows cases rose sharply in Tupper Lake and Malone last week. This data showed Tupper Lake with 50 active cases on Friday, Harrietstown with 31 and Malone with 52.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Franklin County Public Health Department has reported 25 COVID-19-related deaths.