ALBANY COUNTY — In Albany County’s 50th week of coping with COVID-19, just two residents died, a welcome decline. And, as across the state and nation, infection and hospitalization rates continued to decline from the post-holiday high as well.

This has led to the relaxing of rules for quarantining at schools in the county and for the state opening up a variety of economic sectors and allowing visitors in nursing homes.

At the same time, vaccine doses still fall far short of demand as the county this week announced its first three cases of a COVID-19 variant — B.1.1.7, initially identified in the United Kingdom and known to be highly transmissible.

On Wednesday, a mass vaccination site at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, to be run by the state and federal governments, started taking reservations. In an attempt to get Black and brown communities vaccinated, the site, which opens March 3, will for the first week vaccinate people in specified ZIP codes.

Last Friday, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy had noted recent estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that life expectancy in the United States declined by a full year during the first half of 2020 because of COVID-19; it is the largest drop since World War II.

“Tragically, and even worse,” said McCoy, “life expectancy dropped by almost three years for African Americans and two years for Hispanics. This is exactly the reason why we need to continue to work towards getting the vaccine to our most vulnerable populations and minority communities.”

The Armory in Albany at 125 Washington Ave. will open March 3 and is to administer 1,000 doses of vaccine a day. For the first week, it will vaccinate only residents who live in these ZIP codes: 12202, 12206, 12210, 12209, 12207, 12222, 12180, 12307, 12308, 12305, and 12304.

Appointments may be made by going online to https://am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov or by calling call 1-833-697-4829.
 

Variants

The coronavirus, like all viruses, occasionally makes errors, known as mutations, as it proliferates. Coronaviruses with the same set of mutations are identified by scientists as variants. Several of these variants are being tracked in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

None of them have yet evolved into a distinct strain.

The two variants that have been identified so far in New York State are: B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, which was first identified in South African confirmed in the United States in January.

Albany County announced its first two cases of B.1.17, the U.K. variant, on Saturday and then announced a third case on Wednesday.

“These cases were identified in a congregate youth facility,” said Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen at Monday morning’s county press conference of the first two B.1.1.7 cases.

“Both cases were teenagers and both of them were asymptomatic,” she said.

The testing was done by the state after an initial case at the facility was identified. Whalen said the state would conduct additional tests at the facility on Monday, which may be expanded if more cases are found.

Whalen noted that, in general with COVID-19, younger people have a higher prevalence of mild disease or asymptomatic disease. The concern, she said, is it could affect more vulnerable individuals and cause more serious complications.

So far, she said on Monday, 82 cases of B.1.1.7 have been confirmed in 17 counties throughout the state; Albany County makes it 18.

Governor Andrew Cuomo updated that count to 154 on Tuesday.

“There have been predictions that, by late March, the predominant strain could be the U.K. variant so this is of concern …,” said Whalen. “This strain of the virus is more contagious and could likely result in more infections.”

Whalen said it is “essential” for residents to continue following protective measures like masking — double-masking in some circumstances — hand-washing, and avoiding gatherings.

New York State’s first confirmed case of B.1.1.7 — contracted by a man in his sixties in Saratoga — was announced on Jan. 4.

As of Feb. 24, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s nationwide tally was 1,881 cases identified in 45 states — including 136 in New York State. Florida had the most cases with 489, followed by Michigan with 210, and California with 204.

The CDC tally is updated on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday by 7 p.m., the webpage states.

Originally, scientists thought that the B.1.17 variant, while more transmissible — the CDC had predicted it could become the predominant variant in the United States by March — was not more severe. Recently, however, British scientists have reported “updated and additional analyses, which together strengthen the earlier finding of increased disease severity in people infected with VOC B.1.1.7 compared to other virus variants.”

On Feb. 12, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group posted documents that have not been peer reviewed, indicating that the B.1.1.7 variant may be linked to increased hospitalization and death.

According to the CDC, “In January 2021, experts in the UK reported that B.1.1.7 variant may be associated with an increased risk of death compared to other variants. More studies are needed to confirm this finding.

On Tuesday, Cuomo announced that a second case of B.1.351 had been confirmed in Nassau County on Long Island.

He had announced the first Nassau County case on Feb. 21, following a B.1.351 case the week before of a Connecticut resident who was having a procedure done in a New York City hospital.

“This variant was first identified in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa, in samples dating back to the beginning of October 2020,” reports the CDC, and also says, “Currently there is no evidence to suggest that this variant has any impact on disease severity.”

Of the potential consequences of emerging variants, the CDC says the ability to evade vaccine-induced immunity “would likely be the most concerning because once a large proportion of the population is vaccinated, there will be immune pressure that could favor and accelerate emergence of such variants by selecting for ‘escape mutants.’”

However, the report goes on, “There is no evidence that this is occurring, and most experts believe escape mutants are unlikely to emerge because of the nature of the virus.”

According to a CDC webpage reporting variants for COVID-19 in the United States, as of Wednesday evening, there are 46 cases of B.1.351 in the nation across 14 states.

 

Vaccine

McCoy announced at his Thursday morning press conference that he had gotten his first shot of COVID-19 vaccine, as a member of the New York National Guard.

While Johnson & Johnson waits for approval from the Food and Drug Administration, just two vaccines are currently available in the United States — from Moderna and from Pfizer and BioNTech. Both of those require two shots several weeks apart. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires just one shot.

“I could have gotten the shot back in December. I chose not to. I chose to lead by example,” McCoy said, “and not to … say I’m more important than anyone else.”

McCoy said he waited to get vaccinated until people with underlying health conditions were eligible.

He also said he wanted to set an example.

“A third of the military are refusing the shots,” he said. “So it’s not just minority communities … The National Guard in its history has never been more mobilized … They’re gonna be in the front line, giving out vaccines.”

McCoy concluded, “It is important to show my fellow soldiers, men and women, they should get the shot. It’s safe.”

He urged, “Do your part; get a vaccine.”

Albany County receives about 1,000 to 1,300 doses each week, Whalen said, which the state mandates be used for essential workers and people with comorbidities.

She said demand exceeds supply and she hopes the county’s supply expands. 

“We have used every single dose that we’ve received,” Whalen said, and no one has suffered a severe, adverse reaction.

She noted that, after the second shot, people may “feel a little under the weather” for a couple of hours or for maybe a day or two.

“This is your immune response, kicking in, making antibodies …,” Whalen said. “It is not a live vaccine. It does not give you COVID.”

Whalen, who has taken the two shots herself, went on, “The full immunity takes two weeks after the second dose … Your body takes time to make antibodies so do not assume you are safe until two weeks past your second vaccine.”

While a fully vaccinated person will be safe from disease and death, Whalen said, he or she should continue wearing a mask and stay socially distanced.

“We do not have enough data … that individuals who are vaccinated cannot carry small amounts of the virus and infect others if they became exposed,” she said.

The protocols will continue until herd immunity is reached.

February is usually the peak of the flu season, Whalen said, but this year there have been only sporadic outbreaks probably because of good public health measures.

“The rates in schools have really decreased significantly,” said Whalen of COVID-19 infections. This puts the area in a “pretty good position to return to in-person learning,” she said.

 

School quarantine rules relaxed

Until now, an entire classroom was quarantined if a single positive case was identified. Now, just contacts with close proximity to someone who tests positive will be quarantined.

“Our cases in schools dropped from 30s and 40s down to a handful of cases every week,” said Whalen at a county press briefing on Monday morning. “It seemed to make sense to change the policy and look at proximity, look at where the child was seated.”

Whalen said the schools in Albany County are willing to work with the health department to see that just those with close contact are quarantined. The new policy may encourage more in-person learning, Whalen said, since kids may not have wanted to take a chance going to school if they may be quarantined.

All along, Whalen said, the schools “have really done a good job to make sure the kids in the classroom are protected.”

This includes wearing masks and staying distant.

“We really are not seeing high levels of disease in the school community,” Whalen said. And, as more teachers, administrators, and school workers are becoming fully vaccinated, she said, a “comfort level” is being reached.

“In terms of parents, we continue to assert the schools are a low-risk scenario,” she said, stating that children socializing outside of school may have a higher risk of catching or spreading the virus.

Locally, as of Wednesday evening, Berne-Knox-Westerlo has had 22 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the school year — 13 at its secondary school and 9 at its elementary school, according to the state’s COVID-19 Report Card. BKW has about 780 students.

Voorheesville has had 43 cases: 22 at its high school, 15 at its elementary school, and 6 at its middle school. Voorheesville has about 1,200 students.

The Guilderland School District has had a total of 170 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the school year. The district has about 4,800 students.

Ninety-six of those cases were at Guilderland High School, a tally that also includes district-wide employees like bus drivers; 28 were at Farnsworth Middle School, 13 at Westmere Elementary, 9 each at Altamont, Lynnwood, and Pine Bush elementary schools, and 6 at Guilderland Elementary School.

COVID-19 surveillance testing conducted by the Guilderland schools in January showed an infection rate of 0.4 percent.

A total of 945 people were tested, including students, faculty, and staff at all seven buildings — and just four of those results were positive.

“I think it’s very encouraging, out of close to 1,000 tests, we had just four positives,” Superintendent Marie Wiles told The Enterprise on Feb. 1, the day the test results were announced. “It’s a strong indication school is a safe place to be.”

“President Biden has made it a national priority to open schools,” said Cuomo at his Monday press briefing.

Consequently, to get “clarity,” Cuomo said, the state will ask local school districts to report on how many teachers have been vaccinated and how many are teaching in-person classes.

“How many teachers are doing in-class teaching?” said Cuomo. “We’re asking the counties, the local governments, the cities, how many teachers have you vaccinated? How many teachers are doing in-class teaching and what percentage is now in-class? ... 

“We will notify the local districts today if they can start reporting on Wednesday and then we’ll ask them that on a weekly basis. I think we need clarity on that matter because opening schools is very important as we know. Opening schools is very important for children and it has economic consequences beyond that.”

 

Opening up

“Things are starting to open up,” said McCoy at his Monday morning press briefing.

He said he was happy to see last week’s announcements that indoor amusement centers can open on March 26 at 25-percent capacity and outdoor amusement parks can open April 9 at 33-percent capacity.

Movie theaters in New York City will be brought in line with the rest of the state at 25-percent capacity, weddings and catered events can be held at 50-percent capacity, billiard halls — having won a lawsuit — can reopen statewide at 50-percent capacity, and nursing homes will be open to visitors.

“We’re announcing a number of reopenings, watching the valve and the infection rate and the meters,” said Cuomo.

On New York City’s movie theaters, he said, they will function at 25-percent capacity, with no more than 50 people per screening. “Masks, assigned seating, social distancing, staff to control occupancy, traffic, and seating to ensure compliance,” he said, adding they must also follow enhanced air-filtration standards.

Catered events, starting March 15, can have up to 150 people and all patrons must be tested before the event. “Anyone who wants to get married, no excuses,” said Cuomo. “Venues must notify the local health department in advance, masks required at all times except with seating, eating or drinking, guidelines for ceremonial and socially distanced dancing.”

Billiard and pool halls can open at 50-percent capacity with masks required unless patrons are seated and eating or drinking with mandatory social distancing and physical barriers between parties.

 

Nursing home visits

Because nearly three-quarters of the state’s nursing home residents have now been vaccinated, Cuomo said at his Friday press briefing, the state’s health department is putting out guidance to allow visitors.

Starting on Friday, Feb. 26, nursing home residents can have visitors as long as protocols are followed.

“This is going to be a very big deal for nursing home residents and families,” Cuomo said, adding that the guidance is in accordance with the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS.

Visits had been cut off to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

McCoy said there “will be so much joy” when nursing home residents can have visitors.

While some families and friends visited residents by gesturing through windows, McCoy noted nursing home residents haven’t been able to see visitors face to face for a year.

“Nursing home residents have now all been offered the vaccine ... 100 percent of nursing home staff has all been offered the vaccine. Seventy-three percent of nursing home residents have taken the vaccine, which is the probably the highest number we have of any subgroup,” said Cuomo.

Visitors will take a rapid test before entering a nursing home and the state will supply the tests to the nursing homes at no costs.

New York’s health commissioner, Howard Zucker, outlined four main points at Monday’s press briefing.

First, he said, the rate of infection in the county where the nursing home is located will determine testing requirements for visitors. For counties with an infection rate below 5 percent, no COVID-19 testing is required but it is encouraged.

As of Feb. 23, Albany County has an infection rate, as a seven-day rolling average, of 1.8 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.

For counties with infection rates between 5 and 10 percent, a visitor must be tested within 72 hours. “The testing can be either through a PCR test, a binex test, rapid test and we can give the nursing homes the assistance to do them,” said Zucker.

If a nursing home is in a county with an infection rate greater than 10 percent, no visitors will be allowed except for “compassionate care,” said Zucker. Visits will also be restricted if there have been COVID-19 cases in the home within 14 days.

Second, Zucker said, if a visitor has waited 14 days from getting the second dose of a vaccine and is still within 90 days of that second dose, no test is required. However, testing is still encouraged, he said, “because you can still have it in your nasal passage.”

Third, the most visitors that a nursing home will be allowed is 20 percent of residents at one time. “Obviously,” Zucker said, “the next day you can have other visitors for other residents, but we’re trying to make sure we don’t overwhelm the nursing homes.”

Fourth, he said, the state’s health department is working with nursing homes “to make sure that they either have a separate room or the visitor is alone in their room at that point in time.”

 

College protocols updated

Guidance was also updated this week for infection rates and testing protocols on college campuses to encourage more testing while allowing schools to better pinpoint and isolate problems before requiring a shift to remote learning.

Colleges and universities testing at least 25 percent of total on-campus students, faculty, and staff weekly will not be required to go on pause unless their positivity rate exceeds 5 percent during a rolling 14-day period.

Colleges and universities not testing at least 25 percent of their population weekly must go on pause if they have 100 individuals test positive or their positivity rate exceeds 5 percent — whichever is less — during a rolling 14-day period. 

Previously, colleges and universities were required to go on pause if they had either 100 individuals or 5 percent of their student population test positive over a 14-day period, regardless of weekly testing rates.

Under the old system, the University of Albany came close to the required pause when 96 people tested positive for COVID-19 between Jan. 30 and Feb. 12, according to the SUNY COVID-19 tracker.

As of Friday evening, 212 at UAlbany have tested positive since Jan. 2. Currently, 192 students are under mandatory quarantine and 78 students are under isolation — 52 on campus, and 26 off campus.

The updated guidance shifts to a rolling 14-day average favored by epidemiologists and medical professionals, as opposed to the original 14-day static timeframe, the governor’s office stated in a release.

 

Rapid tests

Also this week, Cuomo announced the launch of a public-private partnership called the New York Forward Rapid Test Program, meant to help businesses reopen safely.

“I believe the testing is the key to accelerating the reopening of the economy,” he said. “But, you have to have the volume of testing. And we’re opening rapid testing sites as we speak.”

 Eleven initial sites opened on Friday in New York City with the capacity to conduct more than 5,000 tests per day, while additional sites are scheduled to open in New York City and other parts of the state in the coming weeks.

Testing providers participating in the network must make rapid testing available for no more than $30, provide participants with their results within 30 minutes, offer a mechanism for people to schedule in advance, and report the results to the state.

People who are not experiencing COVID symptoms and who have not had a recent known exposure to COVID-19 may participate in this initiative by visiting participating locations and completing a questionnaire.

They must continue to comply with all New York Forward guidelines on reopening, including but not limited to the use of masks, social distancing, and other protocols.

 

Newest numbers

Another Albany County resident — a woman in her nineties — succumbed to COVID-19, bringing the county’s death toll to 347, McCoy announced in a release on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday morning, Albany County has had 20,163 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 85 new cases since Tuesday.

Of the new cases, 45 did not have clear sources of infection identified, 34 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, two reported out-of-state travel, and four were health-care workers or residents of congregate settings.

The five-day average for new daily positives has decreased to 65.2 from 66.4. There are now 551 active cases in the county, up from 519 yesterday.

The number of Albany County residents under quarantine increased slightly to 1,407 from 1,401. So far, 63,144 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 19,612 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 43 recoveries since Tuesday.

There were four new hospitalizations overnight, and there are now 56 county residents hospitalized from the virus – a net decrease of four. There are currently eight patients in intensive-care units, one  more than on Tuesday.

Currently, 167 Capital Region residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, which is 0.02 percent of the region’s population and leaves 35 percent of its hospital beds available, according to a Wednesday release from the governor’s office.

Statewide, 0.03 percent of New Yorkers are hospitalized with the disease, leaving 36 percent of hospital beds available statewide.

Currently 193 of the Capital Region’s ICU beds are filled, leaving 24 percent available. Statewide, 28 percent of ICU beds are available.

The Capital Region, as of Tuesday, as a seven-day rolling average, has an infection rate of 2.02 percent.

Statewide, the infection rate is 3.36 percent.