Recently Orange and Ulster counties have seen an uptick in positive COVID-19 cases.

Throughout July and August the total number of positive COVID-19 cases remained stabilized in Orange County at approximately 11,000. As of Friday, 13,704 people had tested positive for the virus throughout the county. The virus has claimed the lives of 507 Orange County residents. Confirmed hospitalizations have also been on the rise. There were fewer than 10 cases throughout the county in August, far lower than the 38 that were confirmed on Friday.

As of Friday, the City of Newburgh led the county with 1,803 total positive cases followed by the Town of Palm Tree (1,568) and the City of Middletown (1,391). At that time the Town of Montgomery had 750 total positive COVID-19 cases while the Town of Crawford had only 116.

There were 89 new positive cases on Friday, with 32 percent coming from the Town of Palm Tree, nine percent from the City of Newburgh, 8 percent from the Town of Wallkill and 7 percent from the City of Middletown. Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus noted that those municipalities had the most new positive cases, however each town throughout the county has been affected.

“It is spread out throughout all the towns,” he said.

Neuhaus confirmed Friday that 17 senior citizens from three Orange County nursing homes had active positive COVID-19, a figure that is concerning because seniors are more likely to suffer from the negative effects of COVID-19.

On Oct. 6, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a cluster action initiative to address COVID-19 hot spots in Brooklyn, Queens, Broome, Orange and Rockland Counties. The cluster action initiative includes new rules and restrictions targeting areas with the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases and the surrounding communities.

The cluster in Orange County includes the towns of Palm Tree, Monroe and Woodbury. The Town of Palm Tree includes the red zone, the cluster itself, which has higher restrictions. Places of worship can open at 25 percent capacity, containing a maximum of 10 people. Gatherings are prohibited and only essential businesses remain open. Schools remain closed and students are forced to learn remotely. Restaurants provide only takeout.

Parts of the towns of Monroe and Woodbury are in the yellow zone, which is the precautionary zone. There, places of worship can open at 50 percent capacity. Gatherings can have a maximum of 25 people. Businesses remain open and indoor and outdoor dining is allowed with a maximum of four people per table. Schools are able to open in person, however students and school personnel are required to be tested for COVID-19 weekly.

On Friday, Neuhaus announced that he was tracking approximately 573 positive COVID-19 cases. He gave some good news, noting that of the 13,704 positive COVID-19 cases, 12,624 have recovered.

COVID-19 is also on the rise in Ulster County.

“We are still seeing a slight increase of COVID cases throughout the county,” said Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan.

The county has had 2,560 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Fortunately, 2,202 people have recovered from the virus. As of Sunday there were 261 active cases throughout the county, up 137 from Oct. 1.

In total, the pandemic has claimed the lives of 97 people throughout Ulster County. The City of Kingston leads the county with 46 active cases. The Town of Ulster has by far the most fatalities of any municipality in the county with 40. The Town of Shawangunk has 20 active cases, suffering four fatalities while the Town of Gardiner has six active cases and four deaths.

Ryan did issue some good news during his live briefing on Thursday. Of the 1,835 people who had been tested in the last 48 hours, only 15 tested positive for COVID-19.

“We know that until we have a vaccine we’ll be doing this back and forth with the virus and just trying to keep it contained and in check and that really takes all of us playing our parts to do that,” Ryan said.