ALBANY COUNTY — Quarantine for domestic travel won’t be required after April 1, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday, citing declining COVID-19 infection rates.

Also on Thursday, the state’s labor department announced 29,400 private-sector jobs were added in January, representing 0.4-percent growth, which is faster than the nation’s. At the same time, though, New York’s unemployment rate increased.

On Thursday morning, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced 64 new cases of COVID-19 since Wednesday and another death related to the virus: a man in his sixties.

This brings Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll to 362.

Finally, on Thursday evening, President Joe Biden addressed the nation in a televised speech in which he directed states to make all Americans eligible for COVID-19 vaccination by May 1.

Biden said he expects normalcy to return to life in the United States by the Fourth of July. He said this will require Americans to wear masks, stay socially distant, and sign up to get vaccinated.

Biden spoke after signing into law the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

Looking back at a long, hard year, Biden also said, “Finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do.” 

Jobs

The number of private-sector jobs in New York State increased over the month of January by 29,400, or 0.4 percent, to 7,323,500. By comparison, the number of private-sector jobs in the United States increased by less than 0.1 percent in January, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the state’s labor department.

Also in January, the statewide unemployment rate increased from 8.7 percent to 8.8 percent, largely because of New York City. The city’s unemployment rate increased over the month from 12.0 percent to 12.6 percent. Outside of New York City, the unemployment rate decreased from 6.3 percent to 6.1 percent.

The number of unemployed New Yorkers increased over the month of January by 10,800, from 805,900 in December 2020 to 816,700 in January 2021.

The year-over-year change from January 2020 to January 2021 shows the United States lost 7.9 million private-sector jobs, a loss of 6.2 percent.

New York State, during the same period, lost 1 million jobs, a loss of 12.3 percent.

The Albany-Schenectady-Troy area lost 26,500 private-sector jobs, a loss of 7.3 percent.

The largest drop, of 15.5 percent, was in New York City, which lost 626,400 private-sector jobs.

The lightest loss, down 4 percent, was in the Watertown-Fort Drum area, which lost 1,100 private-sector jobs.

The only sector which showed gains from January 2020 to January 2021 was in natural resources and mining, which added 100 jobs.

The biggest loss was in the leisure and hospitality sector, which lost 364,600 jobs, followed by trade, transportation and utilities, which lost 163,200 jobs, and educational and health services, which lost 160,800 jobs.

Travel

While domestic travelers after April 1 will no longer be required to quarantine after entering New York from another state or territory, the state’s health department still recommends quarantine after domestic travel as an added precaution.

Mandatory quarantine remains in effect for international travelers.

All travelers must continue to fill out the Traveler Health Form, according to a release from the governor’s office, and individuals should continue strict adherence to all safety guidelines to stop the spread — wearing masks, socially distancing, and avoiding gatherings.

Regardless of quarantine status, anyone exposed to COVID-19 or returning from travel must for two weeks monitor symptoms and wear a face mask even if fully vaccinated. If any symptoms develop, the traveler must immediately self-isolate and contact the local public health authority or their health-care provider.

Newest numbers

As of Thursday morning, Albany County has had 21,147 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Of the 64 new cases, 46 did not have clear sources of infection identified, 15 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, two reported traveling out of state, and one was a health-care worker or resident of a congregate setting.

The five-day average for new daily positives has decreased to 59.4 from 60.2. There are now 534 active cases in the county, up from 521 on Wednesday.

The number of Albany County residents under quarantine decreased to 1,344 from 1,377. So far, 66,560 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 20,613 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 51 recoveries since yesterday.

There was one new hospitalization overnight, and there are now 24 county residents hospitalized from the virus — a net decrease of five. This is the lowest level of hospitalized patients since Nov. 2, McCoy noted.

There are currently five patients in intensive-care units, up from four yesterday.

As of Wednesday, as a seven-day rolling average, Albany County’s infection rate was 2.0 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.

Statewide, the positivity rate was 3.1 percent.