ALBANY COUNTY — One-hundred workers at the county’s airport got their first doses of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

“I’m proud that the county is sending 100 Pfizer doses to the Albany International Airport to get workers their first round of shots,” said the county’s executive, Daniel Mcoy, in a statement. “This move is critical as the country reports the highest number of travelers passing through our airports since March of last year, along with the lifting of some quarantine restrictions in New York on April 1.”

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.

“Airport employees have undertaken extraordinary measures to ensure the continued safety of the traveling public ever since the onset of the coronavirus,” said Philip Calderone, chief executive officer of the Albany County Airport Authority, in a statement on Tuesday. “The recent increase in passenger travel makes it essential that airport workers are provided the protection they need to continue to serve our travelers.” 

Last April, Calderone had said that travel at Albany International Airport had dropped by nearly 95 percent because of the coronavirus.

“And that’s a good thing,” he added then, “in terms of the message that we need to practice social isolation.”

Calderone said in April that the county’s airport was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a week and millions of dollars a month. Almost all concessions revenue had ended and the airport was losing landing fees, passenger facility charges, and parking revenues among other sources of income, Calderone said.

“We’ll get through this,” he said then, noting ways the airport is reducing spending by, among other measures, furloughing employees.

Jobs

On Tuesday, the state’s labor department released preliminary local area unemployment rates for January 2021.

New York State’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 8.7 percent in December 2020 to 8.8 percent in January 2021.

Albany County’s unemployment rate for January 2021 was 6.0 percent. The rate for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area was the same: 6.0 percent, up from 3.9 percent in January 2020 before the pandemic hit.

Albany County had roughly 147,400 jobs in January 2021 compared to roughly 151,000 the year before, a decrease of 3.7 percent.

At the same time, about 9,500 Albany County residents were unemployed in January 2021 compared to 5,900 the January before when the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent.

Last week, the labor department had announced 29,400 private-sector jobs were added statewide in January, representing 0.4-percent growth, to 7.3 million jobs, which is faster than the nation’s increase of less than 0.1 percent.

At the same time, though, New York’s 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 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 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.

Tuesday’s numbers showed an unemployment rate of 9.6 percent in January 2021 for metro areas compared to 4.0 percent a year ago.

For non-metro counties, the January 2021 rate of unemployment was 7.2 percent compared to 5.6 percent in January 2020.

Newest numbers

McCoy, in a Tuesday morning release, reported 45 new cases of COVID-19, bringing Albany County’s tally to 21,373.

Of the new cases,  31 did not have clear sources of infection identified, 12 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, one 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 48.6 from 52.4. There are now 461 active cases in the county, down from 498 on Monday.

The number of Albany County residents under quarantine increased to 1,360 from 1,191. So far, 67,694 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 20,912 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 74 recoveries since Monday.

There were four new hospitalizations overnight, and there are now 26 county residents hospitalized from the virus — a net decrease of three. There are still four patients in intensive-care units, unchanged from Monday

Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 365.

Statewide, as of Monday, as a seven-day rolling average, the infection rate is 3.2 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.

For Albany County, also as of Monday as a seven-day rolling average, the infection rate was 1.6 percent.