Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy announced today that as of this morning, there have now been 2,328 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Albany County to date, an increase of 6 since yesterday. Additionally, the number of people under mandatory quarantine has dropped from 580 to 557 today. The five-day average for new daily positives has decreased to 7.8 from 8 yesterday. There are currently 42 active cases, up from 37. So far, 7,728 people have completed quarantine. Of those who completed quarantine, 2,286 of them had tested positive and recovered, an increase of 1. 

There was one new hospitalization overnight and there are now three individuals hospitalized due to the virus. The hospitalization rate has ticked up to 0.12% from 0.08%. There are now no patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), having decreased from one yesterday. There were no new COVID-related deaths to report, and the death toll for the county stands at 128 since the outbreak began. County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen joined the County Executive for the briefing.

Among the new positive cases reported today include one healthcare worker or those who live in congregate settings, four with close contacts to positive cases and one who did not have a clear source of transmission. None of the positives reported today have been linked to those who either attended the Fourth of July party on Hudson Avenue in Albany or were with the same group of people on July 3 or July 5. County Executive McCoy continues to urge those who attended the party to call the Albany County Department of Health at (518) 447-4640 to get expedited testing.

“While the delivery of some Albany County programs and services changed to adapt to the health and safety regulations during the pandemic, our passionate workforce never slowed down on behalf of residents. That is certainly true for our Department for Children, Youth and Families who support children with special needs and others, especially at a time when they are increasingly falling behind with schools being closed,” said County Executive McCoy. 

“Our Early Intervention Program has remained open and our Evaluation Team has continued doing assessments remotely, while our pre-school center based programs have been open since July 13 providing speech and physical therapies to 75 kids between the ages of 3 and 5. These are the types of initiatives that improve lives and I’m proud to support. And I strongly encourage women and teen girls to utilize our Single Point of Entry, which can make it easy to find help with health care, addiction support, counseling and more,” he continued. 

County Executive McCoy was joined by Gail Darrigo, LCSW for the briefing, who serves as the Clinical Director of the Children with Special Needs and Mental Health Divisions of Albany County’s Department for Children, Youth and Families. She discussed how Albany County’s Early Intervention Program currently serves 397 infants to three-year-olds, helping them get connected with services that they qualify for, including speech, occupational and physical therapies; social work and special education. Most of these services have been provided via Skype or Zoom, save a small percentage of those that continued in-person meetings. The county’s Evaluation Team has conducted 143 different assessments this year, 49 of which have occurred since May of this year. 

Albany County’s Single Point of Entry (SPOE) initiative is a centralized referral system to streamline the process of getting connected with services. Operators can help direct callers for issues relating to health insurance, pregnancy support, domestic violence, addiction support, social services and much more at (518) 447-7777. During the spring months there was an average of 76 referrals each month, but since June that number has increased to about 150 referrals per month. 

Below is the remainder of this week’s schedule for Albany County’s walk-up COVID-19 mobile testing sites, a collaboration with the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center. The schedule is based on demand and mobile site locations are updated weekly based on that need. Testing is for those experiencing symptoms, essential workers and those returning to work by appointment only, after being screened 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. 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 encourages 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 during the ongoing pandemic and gun violence in the City of Albany, the Albany County Mental Health Support Line is available seven days a week, now from 8am to 5pm 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.