Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone (Provided photo — Evan Wheaton, Malone Telegram)

Franklin County increased its COVID-19 toll to four as a man died of the pandemic disease Friday at Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone.

Alice Hyde spokesperson Phillip Rau confirmed Sunday that the death took place at the Malone hospital, which is part of the University of Vermont Health Network. Rau said the deceased man was not a resident or staff member of Alice Hyde’s Alice Center nursing home. Rau could not immediately confirm the person’s age and would not confirm the person’s hometown as that is considered identifying information.

It was Franklin County’s second COVID-19 death in two days. All four of its recorded COVID-19 deaths have occurred in the past two weeks, all in the north end of the county. New York state previously recorded one COVID-19 death for the county, but county officials denied it.

Franklin County’s known active COVID-19 cases dropped from from 72 Friday to 59 Saturday, with five new cases but far more than that resolved, but on Sunday the count rose to 62, with four new positive test results.

The positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in Franklin County declined over the weekend to 0.9% Sunday. The county average of the last seven days was 2.38%.

“Thank you to everyone who is making the effort to wear face coverings, physically distance and sanitize to help our community reduce the spread of the virus,” Kissane wrote in her update. “It is very much appreciated.”

New York state’s positivity rate, as of Sunday, was 2.74%, according to the governor’s office. The North Country’s rate dropped from 2.2% Friday to 1.3% Saturday; the seven-day average was 1.73%.

Essex County does not give daily updates on weekends; on Friday evening it reported 23 active cases of COVID-19. It has had 16 COVID-19 deaths, all tied to an outbreak at the Essex Center nursing home in Elizabethtown that began in August. Two of Franklin County’s four deaths were residents of the Alice Center nursing home in Malone. Neighboring Clinton County has recorded five COVID-19 deaths.