Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy announced today that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Albany County is now at 3,151 to date, an increase of 26 new positive cases since yesterday. Please note that our overall case count will fluctuate as the CommCare records for college students are transferred to the county in which they are isolating for their daily monitoring and then transferred back to Albany County for the final case count.

Additionally, the number of people under mandatory quarantine has increased to 997 from 992. The five-day average for new daily positives increased to 20.2 from 18.4. There are now 128 active cases in the county, up slightly from 125 yesterday. So far, 13,419 people have completed quarantine. Of those who completed quarantine, 3,023 of them had tested positive and recovered. Among the new positive cases, 13 had close contact with positive cases, three reported travelling out of state, two are healthcare workers or residents of a congregate settings and eight did not have a clear source of transmission at this time. Separately, eight of the reported positives for today are associated with the University at Albany.

There were two new hospitalizations to report overnight. The number of county residents currently hospitalized due to the virus rose from seven to eight, and the hospitalization rate ticked up from 0.22% to 0.25%. There are still two patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). There were no new deaths to report, and county’s death toll remains at 135 since the outbreak began.

“As if 2020 couldn’t get any worse between the pandemic and economic shutdown that has devastated local businesses, Albany County and Capital Region residents now have to deal the loss of heat and electricity after Wednesday night’s storm. Sadly, there are still far too many without power – more than 30,000 – and we need to do everything we can to get power back on and support those who are still struggling without it, especially our seniors,” said County Executive McCoy.

“Our County Department of Public Works crews have been working around the clock to clear trees from roads and the Albany County Rail Trail, and Sheriff Apple’s team deserves credit for responding to more than 2,600 emergency calls, especially from those who need oxygen and dialysis,” he continued. 

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, Sr. discussed that his office and the dispatch center had processed 2,609 9-1-1 calls, with some even rolling over from Rensselaer and Schenectady Counties. The Town of Colonie may have felt the biggest impact, as they represented 980 of those calls. Having responded to multiple house fires yesterday, Sheriff Apple reminded residents of the dangers improper use of generators can pose. Generators should never be run indoors or in garages because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. 

National Grid has brought in extra crews from other parts of the state to help with the power restoration but they have said that if you haven’t reported an outage at your house, you need to do that and not assume they know about it. Please call them at 800-867-5222 or go online to www.nationalgridus.com to report your outage. While there is no dry ice left for today’s distribution, National Grid will continue to distribute dry ice and water to Albany County residents at Crossgates Mall, at the upper level parking lot near Macy’s, tomorrow from 9am to 5pm.

Community-wide testing continues on the University at Albany (SUNY) campus by appointment only for those with or without symptoms. Appointments may be made by calling the NYS hotline at 888-364-3065 or by visiting the State Department of Health website.

County Executive McCoy continues to highlight the testing site in Albany County at Priority 1 Urgent Care, which also provides 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.

The County Executive 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.

Walgreens is now operating a testing facility at the 41 Holland Avenue location utilizing a self-collection model. Residents will be able to remain in their cars while assisted by pharmacists when necessary. Based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, individuals who are 18 years or older may be tested once completing an eligibility assessment at the Walgreens website or at their app. Patients can get their results from PWNHealth.

CVS is offering drive-thru testing at select stores. You must register online for an appointment. To do that and find locations offering the drive-thru testing, go to the CVS website.

For the all latest data on COVID testing and results, you can refer to the County COVID-19 Data Dashboard, as well as the New York State Department of Health COVID-19 Tracker.

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, 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.