282 deaths in Albany County from COVID-19 … ☠

I was looking at map I made yesterday of COVID cases, which also contain the number of deaths from COVID. I was surprised to see 282 people so far in Albany County have died of COVID, which has increased since the November-December second wave. I had to double check my data. But it was right. In comparison, in 2020 only 15 people were murdered in Albany County, the highest number in many years.

When you look at 282 deaths and divide it into the population of 305,506, it means that 1 in 1,088 Albany County residents have died from COVID. That’s a fairly high margin for any cause of unexpected death, even if you consider the sample to be biased to elderly residents who were likely on their final years. But it’s still a substantial loss, and reminds us how lucky we are to be alive.

With all the talk about violent crime, in 2020 one of the most violent years in recent years, you stood a 1 in 20,367 chance of being murdered. Almost 19 times more people were killed by COVID in the past year then malicious intent. In many ways, COVID is much more random, as most of people murdered knew their assailants which isn’t nearly the case when it comes to COVID.