Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy announced today that as of this morning, there have been 1,813 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Albany County to date, an increase of 4 since yesterday. Additionally, there are now 469 people under mandatory quarantine and 5 people under precautionary quarantine. The five-day average for new daily positives is now down to 4.6. So far, 5,130 individuals have completed quarantine, with 1,553 of them having tested positive and recovered. The recovery rate for Albany County now stands at 85.65%.

Unfortunately, overnight a county resident passed away due to the virus – a woman in her 80’s with multiple underlying health conditions. That brings the death toll to 117 since the outbreak began. There are currently 13 individuals hospitalized, bringing the hospitalization rate to 0.71%, which is up slightly from 0.66% yesterday. There are still no individuals currently in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Albany County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen joined the County Executive for the briefing.

“The latest guidance from the Governor’s Office allowing restaurants and bars to expand their outdoor dining on land it controls adjacent to their business in Phase 2 without prior approval is a huge win for our residents, our business community and municipal and county governments whose budgets have been devastated over the last nearly three months since the shutdown began,” said County Executive McCoy.

“I’m encouraging municipalities to work with businesses and develop plans to utilize sidewalks and even streets for expanded space. These two policies will ensure smaller restaurants can bring in more customers and, in general, will ensure customers and workers can maintain proper social distancing, stay safe and have a greater peace of mind,” he continued.

Businesses licensed by the New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) looking to expand their outdoor dining space can do so utilizing contiguous open-air land that it controls via deed, lease, management agreement or any other agreement. However, licensed businesses that do expand will need to submit a diagram showing any alterations to the SLA at their email temporaryalterations@sla.ny.gov. For the second separate policy, municipalities who choose to allow businesses to expand onto municipal-owned land, can do so through a “Municipal Extension,” and submitting a plan and the two required forms to the SLA. This will need to be completed before any alterations are made utilizing municipal space. Full state guidance can be found at the SLA website here.

County Executive McCoy also announced that State Department of Motor Vehicle locations will be able to reopen in Phase 3, which is currently slated for June 17. In person transactions will be limited and need to be scheduled ahead of time. Additionally, recent guidance was made available by the Governor’s Office to allow garage and yard sales in Phase 2. Those hosting sales cannot allow any more than ten people in a given space at a time and need to ensure all social distancing guidelines are adhered to, including face coverings and proper hand hygiene. 

During the briefing, the County Executive also highlighted that the Small Business Development Center of New York will be hosting two webinars on Phase 3 Reopening tomorrow, June 12. The first will be focused on food services at 1pm, and the second will focus on personal care services at 3pm. You can find information at their website here.

The remainder of this week’s schedule for Albany County’s walk-up mobile testing sites is below. Please note that testing is now available for essential workers and those returning to work. To date, 2,064 people have been tested at this sites across the Capital Region. Next week’s testing schedule will be available at the Albany County website soon. The schedule is based on demand and mobile site locations are updated weekly based on that need. All testing is by appointment only, after being screened for symptoms over the phone. To be screened, please call (518) 465-4771. 

Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center - 920 Lark Drive, Albany

• Friday – 8:30am – 10:30am 

County Executive McCoy continues to highlight the testing site in Albany County at Priority 1 Urgent Care, which is now also providing antibody testing, located in Hamilton Square at 2080 Western Avenue in Guilderland. The partnership was made possible by Albany County supplying the facility with critical personal protective equipment for the staff and supplemental test kits. Testing will be reimbursed by an individual’s health insurance, and will be done by appointments only after patients come in to be screened for expanded CDC symptoms. Priority 1 is also now doing antibody testing. To schedule an appointment, you can call (518) 867-8040.

County Executive McCoy also encouraged those who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to register for the drive-thru community testing site at Rite Aid, 1863 Central Avenue in Colonie. Testing is free for those who are eligible based on CDC guidelines and are at least 18 years old. It’s available between 9am and 5pm, 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.

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 8am to 8pm at (518) 269-6634. Anyone experiencing a psychiatric emergency should still call the Albany County Mobile Crisis Team at (518) 549–6500. The 24-hour sexual assault hotline number is (518) 447-7716.