Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy announced today with County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen that as of this morning, there are now 678 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Albany County. Additionally, there are now 754 people under mandatory quarantine and 41 people under precautionary quarantine. With 30 people now hospitalized, the hospitalization rate for Albany County stands at 4.42%, down from yesterday’s rate of 5.33%. Nine of those individuals are currently in Intensive Care Units (ICU).

Since yesterday’s briefing, there have unfortunately been two men who have died, both are residents of Shaker Place Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. County Executive McCoy expressed his condolences to their families as well as the 23 other families who have lost loves ones to COVID-19. To date, Shaker Place has had 22 residents in total who have tested positive, along with 10 employees, in addition to one staff member who has recovered and returned to work.

“One of our highest priorities is taking care of and protecting our most vulnerable residents,” said County Executive McCoy. “We are doing everything we can to keep them safe and well-cared for by a staff that is professional, dedicated and compassionate during one of the most challenging and stressful times.”

County Executive McCoy also unveiled the new Albany County COVID-19 Data Dashboard, which tracks virtually every aspect of the spread of the Novel Coronavirus and will be used to enhance the county’s response to the outbreak. The data will be updated daily and includes total positives cases of COVID-19 overtime, and breakdowns by county zip code and locality, by race/ethnicity, by age group and by gender. It also includes specifics on the total number of people tested, hospitalizations, admittance into Intensive Care Units, total deaths, daily numbers of new positive cases and more.

“Over the past two weeks, I’ve been proud to work with the state and federal governments along with community partners like the University at Albany, Whitney Young and Rite Aid to get community testing back up and running across the county. Now that we’re getting more people tested, we can be more confident with our data to better understand how far this virus has spread, map it and convey it better to the public,” said County Executive McCoy. 

“This dashboard is allowing us to stem the spread of COVID-19 even more efficiently. I’ve long said that this virus can be dangerous to all age groups and everyone can spread it. The data we’re seeing here confirms that, as the 50-59 age group has had the highest reported positive cases tested so far out of any other, with the 20-29 age group not too far behind. So please, I’m asking everyone to continue to do their part—stay home when you can, socially distance yourselves and wear masks in public so we can save lives,” he continued.

County Executive McCoy took time to highlight the new drive-thru community testing site at Rite Aid, 1863 Central Avenue in Colonie that starts tomorrow thanks to a partnership with Town Supervisor Paula Mahan, Rite Aid and the US Dept. of Health and Human Services. Testing is free for those who are eligible based on CDC guidelines and are at least 18 years old. It will be available between 9:00am and 5:00pm, seven days a week by appointment only. Registration is now available at www.riteaid.com. Tests will be conducted from within an individual’s car with self-swab nasal tests and with the help of a pharmacist. The site will be conducting an estimated 200 tests each day.

County Executive McCoy also highlighted the walk-up and mobile COVID-19 testing sites that he launched with the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center last week at locations across downtown Albany and in Watervliet. Testing is currently available at Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center at 920 Lark Drive in Albany, Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 4:00pm. The rotating schedule and locations of the three mobile testing sites for the rest of this week can be found below. To date, 184 people have been tested at these sites. All testing is done by appointment only and after being screened for symptoms over the phone by calling the Whitney Young, Jr. Health Center at (518) 465-4771. Weekly schedules are posted to the Albany County website here.

• Tuesday, April 21, 1:30–4:00pm
  Watervliet Health Center, 1804 Second Ave, Watervliet
• Wednesday, April 22, 12noon–4:00pm
  Capital South Campus, 20 Warren Street, Albany
• Thursday, April 23, 9:00am–12noon
  Bleecker Terrace Apartments, North Manning Boulevard, West Hill, Albany
• Thursday, April 23, 1:30–4:00pm
  Watervliet Health Center, 1804 Second Avenue, Watervliet
• Friday, April 24, 12noon–4:00pm 
  Capital South Campus, 20 Warren Street, Albany

For those experiencing stress, anxiety or depression while confined to their homes for extended periods of time, the Albany County COVID-19 Mental Health Support Line is available seven days a week from 8:00am to 8:00pm at (518) 269-6634. Anyone experiencing a psychiatric emergency should still call the Albany County Mobile Crisis Team at (518) 549–6500.

The County Executive continues to offer online videos on coping, crafts and reading, AAU karate, exercise, proper use of personal protective equipment and more.

Daily briefings are recorded and may be seen with slides on AlbanyCounty.com, the County’s Facebook page, public access channels—Open Stage Media in Schenectady and Channel Albany in the city of Albany and on Capitol OTB—Channel 1250 Spectrum and Channel 467 on Fios.

For all COVID-19 questions and concerns, including issues with price gouging and fraudulent products, residents are encouraged to use United Way’s 2-1-1 hotline as well as the State Department of Health’s hotline at 888-364-3065.