ALBANY COUNTY — Albany County, like the rest of the state, was in a holding pattern this week as the number of new COVID-19 cases and COVID-related hospitalizations continued to fall but mask mandates remain in places that Governor Kathy Hochul termed vulnerable — like schools — and also where large numbers of people gather and contact tracing would be difficult.

On Monday, by executive order, Hochul extended the state’s disaster emergency through March 16.

Also on Monday, Senate Republicans put forward an amendment to end the mask mandate in schools and day-care centers but, without backing from the Democrats, it went nowhere.

Starting last Thursday, the mask-or-vax mandate was lifted for businesses but Hochul said counties, cities, and businesses could make their own requirements if they so choose.

Guilderland, for example, continued to require masks be worn in town buildings. On Tuesday, Supervisor Peter Barber, in his daily COVID email to residents, wrote, “Later this week, the Town’s COVID-19 response team will determine whether to continue virtual meetings for boards and committees and require facemasks indoors in Town facilities based on current data and official guidance.”

Masking directives across New York remain in place for state-regulated health-care settings and adult-care facilities and nursing homes; correctional facilities; schools and child-care centers; homeless shelters and domestic-violence shelters; and buses and bus stations, trains and train stations, subways and subway stations, planes and airports.

On Tuesday, after her first in-person cabinet meeting, Hochul told the press, “We are at pre-surge levels.” With the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 spiking in New York State on Jan. 7 with over 90,000 new cases, there has been a 97-percent drop, Hochul reported.

Albany County reached its peak infection rate on Jan. 10 with about 20 percent testing positive; the county’s positivity rate is now down to 5.1 percent.

Hochul said New York has the lowest case-rate of any large state in America and credited “strategic policies” as well as a high rate of vaccination.

Hospitalizations, which peaked at 23 percent, Hochul said, have dropped 72 percent over the last month. Only five hospitals remain on a list that once had more than 30 hospitals with staffed bed capacity of under 10 percent, meaning elective surgeries were suspended. All five hospitals still on the list are in the Finger Lakes region, Hochul said.

Hochul on Tuesday reiterated her plans to have students tested for COVID-19 before they return to school from their mid-winter break. Students are to test negative before they head back to school and then are to “test again in a couple of days,” she said.

On Friday, March 4, Hochul will look at the test results and “at all the variables I’ve already outlined,” she said, to decide about school mask requirements.

“New era”

Hochul on Tuesday spoke of a “new era for New York” and said her cabinet members are addressing something that “has always been simmering under the surface, and that is inequities in society: racial, ethnic, geographic.”

Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin is focusing on reducing gun violence, working with an interstate gun intervention task force — including nine states, the New York Police Department, and the Boston Police Department — to address “the influx of illegal guns coming into our state,” said Hochul.

At the cabinet meeting, Hochul said, she raised the question, “As we’re coming through the pandemic and the inequities are still so prevalent, how do we address them … not just talking about them, but how do we get our arms around it and actually do something?”

Health Commissioner Mary Bassett spoke of eradicating inequities by “quantifying and addressing them with a very strategic approach,” said Hochul.

Superintendent of Financial Services Adrienne Harris spoke of freezing check-cashing fees that “were automatically expected to increase,” said Hochul.

Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health Ann Marie Sullivan is working to get services for homeless people, Hochul said, reporting that “40 percent to 50 percent of all New Yorkers have had some impact from the pandemic on their own mental health and particularly for our children.”

Commissioner of Labor Roberta Reardon reported that over $104 billion in unemployment benefits have been distributed to 4.8 million New Yorkers since the start of the pandemic.

“That’s how much, under normal circumstances, we would allocate in a 50-year period … We did it in two years,” said Hochul.

She spoke of the need for finding “people who fell between the cracks” and for workforce training.

“These are all elements toward our comeback,” concluded Hochul, “getting people back to their jobs, making people feel safe in the streets, feeling safe in our public transportation and making sure that there are jobs for them to come to.”

Federal help for COVID funeral costs

The Enterprise is printing another obituary this week of a person who died of COVID-19 but whose family was unaware of a program run by the federal government to partially cover funeral expenses.

Under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing financial assistance for COVID-related funeral expenses incurred on or after Jan. 20, 2020.

Those who are planning funerals or have already paid for funerals for victims of COVID-19 can call the toll-free COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Helpline at 844-684-6333, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to complete a COVID-19 Funeral Assistance application with a FEMA representative. Multilingual services are available.

Information is also available online at FEMA.gov/funeral-assistance/faq.

Individuals may receive a maximum of $9,000 per deceased individual and a maximum of $35,500 per application, if they incurred funeral expenses for multiple deceased individuals.

The death certificate must attribute the death to COVID-19. If the death occurred between Jan. 20 and May 16, 2020, and the death certificate doesn’t attribute the death to COVID-19, the applicant can submit a signed statement from the medical official who certified the death certificate, or the local coroner or medical examiner, linking the cause of death to COVID-19

Examples of eligible expenses may include, but are not limited to: transportation to identify the deceased individual, the transfer of remains, a burial plot or cremation niche, a marker or headstone, caskets or urns, clergy or officiant services, the use of funeral home equipment or staff, and cremation or interment costs.

To be eligible for assistance, the death must have occurred in the United States and the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national, or qualified alien who incurred funeral expenses.

There is no requirement for the deceased person to have been a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national or qualified alien.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought overwhelming grief to many. At FEMA, our mission is to help people before, during and after disasters. We are dedicated to helping ease some of the financial stress and burden caused by the virus,” says the FEMA website, which also has videos explaining the application process.

Preventative drug

New York Times journalist David Leonhardt on Monday featured in his daily newsletter information on Evusheld, an AstraZeneca drug given emergency use authorization in December by the Food and Drug Administration.

The drug is meant to be a layer of protection in addition to vaccination to prevent COVID-19 in immunocompromised people.

“Vaccines have proven to be the best defense available against COVID-19. However, there are certain immune compromised individuals who may not mount an adequate immune response to COVID-19 vaccination, or those who have a history of severe adverse reactions to a COVID-19 vaccine and therefore cannot receive one and need an alternative prevention option,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a statement on Dec. 8 when the authorization was announced.

Leonhardt reported that, while the Biden administration bought 1.7 million doses, many people don’t know the drug exists, if they’re eligible, and how to get a shot.

He provided a link created, in the absence of official information, by an engineer whose wife has cancer. The nationwide list shows Albany County as having four medical centers that have gotten Evusheld although the last deliveries were no later than early February:

— Albany Medical Center Hospital at 43 New Scotland Ave. is listed as having 240 allotted doses with 166 available; 

— Capital Region Rx LLC at 431 New Karner Road is listed as having 24 allotted doses with 24 available;  

— St. Peter’s Hospital at 315 South Manning Blvd. is listed as having 72 allotted doses with 72 available; and 

— Samaritan Hospital at 600 Northern Blvd. is listed as having 72 allotted doses with 69 available.

“The confusion around Evusheld is another example of how the fragmented U.S. health care system harms people,” Leonhardt wrote. 

Fourth vax dose?

On Feb. 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that showed booster shots lose some of their effectiveness after four months.

Vaccine effectiveness against COVID-associated emergency-department and urgent-care visits and hospitalizations was higher after the third dose of messenger RNA vaccine than after the second dose but waned with time since vaccination, the report said.

During the Omicron-predominant period, vaccine effectiveness during the two months after a third dose (often called a booster shot) against COVID-associated emergency or urgent visits was 87 percent and against hospitalization was 91 percent.

That effectiveness decreased to 66 percent for emergency-room or urgent-care visits and to 78 percent for hospitalizations by the fourth month after a third dose.

On Monday, Sweden recommended that people 80 and older get a fourth shot, or a second booster shot, of COVID-19 vaccine.

Added food benefits continue

Once again, federal funding is enhancing food benefits for New Yorkers this month.

New Yorkers enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, will receive the maximum allowable level of food benefits for February.

All households participating in SNAP — including those already at the maximum level of benefits — will receive a supplemental allotment later this month, bringing in roughly $230 million in federal funding into the state’s economy, according to a release from the governor’s office.

“The pandemic continues to exacerbate food insecurity throughout New York State, which is reflected by the large number of households that continue to rely on the lifeline that is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” Hochul said in the release. “These vital food benefits are playing an integral role in helping New Yorkers put food on the table, providing much-needed relief as we continue to take aggressive measures in our fight against COVID-19.”

The emergency assistance supplement is provided to households that do not ordinarily receive the maximum allowable benefit per month on SNAP. Those households already near or at the maximum benefit level — $835 for a household of four — will receive a supplemental payment of at least $95.

SNAP households in all counties outside of New York City should see these benefits posted between now and the end of the day Thursday, Feb. 17.

Emergency supplemental benefits to SNAP households receiving less than the maximum monthly benefit amount started in April 2020. The federal iad is currently expected to extend into May.

Last year alone, roughly $2.5 billion in supplemental benefits were distributed. Nearly 1.6 million households totaling more than 2.7 million New Yorkers received the supplements in December.

SNAP benefits are also playing an integral role in New York’s economic recovery, with every federal dollar invested generating up to $1.54 in economic activity, according to a federal study quantifying the impact of SNAP on the United States economy. The study also found that an additional $1 billion invested in new SNAP benefits could support roughly 13,560 jobs nationwide.

Diocese ends mask mandate

The Diocese of Albany announced last Thursday that it will no longer mandate masks be worn in diocesan churches and offices.

However, the diocesan notice advised, “Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are strongly encouraged to continue to wear a mask during the distribution of Communion.”

The announcement followed Hochul’s lifting of the mask-or-vaccination requirement for businesses, effective Feb. 10.

While Hochul lifted the state mask-or-vax mandate, she is letting counties, cities, and businesses make their own requirements if they so choose.

The diocesan notice said further that, if a city or county imposes a mask mandate, parishes are expected to act in accordance with applicable local law or regulation. “Parishes may continue to impose stricter requirements as they see fit,” the notice said.

The Diocese of Albany will continue to follow the mask requirements for schools.

Long-term care centers remain short of staff

While hospitals, physicians’ offices, outpatient care centers, and other health-care facilities have nearly reached or surpassed pre-pandemic staffing levels, long-term care facilities are still experiencing substantial job losses, according to a new report from the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living.

The report, summarizing Bureau of Labor Statistics data, shows that long-term care facilities have lost more than 400,000 caregivers since the beginning of the pandemic, more than any other health-care sector.

Nursing homes experienced modest gains — of 2,100 jobs — in January 2022. It was the first month of job growth for the industry since July 2019. Overall, nursing homes have lost nearly 238,000 employees – or 15 percent of its total workforce – since the start of the pandemic.

The American Hospital Association and the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living recently sent a letter to Jeffrey Zients, COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator for the Biden administration, outlining “serious concerns that various nurse and other direct care staffing agencies have been exploiting the severe shortage of health care personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic by charging uniformly high prices in a manner that suggests widespread coordination and abuse of market position.”

The letter goes on, “Hospitals and LTC facilities have shared countless examples of how agencies are exploiting their desperate situation for personnel by inflating prices beyond reasonably competitive levels — two or three times pre-pandemic rates — and retaining up to 40% or more of those amounts for themselves.”

The letter writers ask for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate this conduct as a violation of antitrust or consumer protection laws.

Albany County

Albany County, in its 101st week of coping with the coronavirus, suffered four COVID-related deaths: a woman in her fifties, a woman in her sixties, a woman in her seventies, and a man in his seventies all fell victim to the virus.

This brings Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll to 526.

On Wednesday morning, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced 83 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the county’s seven-day average of new cases down to 87.

Albany County’s most recent seven-day average of cases per 100,000 population is now down to 26.2 — about half of what it was a week ago — while its infection rate, also as a seven-day average, is 5.1 percent, down from 9.1 percent a week ago.

Since May 2020, the World Health Organization advised governments that, before reopening, rates of positivity in testing (that is, out of all tests conducted, how many came back positive for COVID-19) should remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

Johns Hopkins, which has tracked the infection rate since 2020, as of Wednesday, showed eight states, including New York, below the 5-percent threshold; New York’s positivity rate, as a seven-day average, was 2.98 percent. Ten states were still above 20 percent.

On Wednesday morning, the CDC map showed every county in New York State, except for one, has a high rate of transmission, meaning masks should be worn indoors in public. Orange County alone has a “moderate” rate, meaning masks need not be worn there.

McCoy, in his Wednesday morning release, reported one new hospitalization since Tuesday so there are now 50 county residents hospitalized with the coronavirus — a net decrease of six. Of those hospital patients, eight are in intensive-care units, down from 10 on Tuesday.

The number of county residents currently in the hospital with the virus is now at its lowest point since Dec. 12, McCoy said in his Wednesday release.

“It’s important to remember that on January 10, Albany County’s seven-day average percent positivity peaked at an estimated one in five people testing positive, and now we’re down to just over 5 percent,” McCoy had said in his Monday release.

“As we continue to see COVID infections decline, we should also see fewer and fewer people being hospitalized with the virus,” he said. “I want to thank everyone for doing their part and helping us get to this point, including those who continue to get vaccinated and get their booster shots.”

As of Tuesday, 80.8 percent of all Albany County residents had received at least the first dose of the vaccine, and 73.5 percent were fully vaccinated.