ALBANY COUNTY — For the first time in three months, Albany County has been designated as having a “low” community level of COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This broke an eight-week streak of being labeled “medium,” which followed a month with a “high” designation after just two weeks at “low” preceded by a month of “medium” after 13 weeks of being labeled “high.”

Just a dozen counties — in western New York — are now labeled “medium” while the rest of the state is designated as having a “low” community level.

Nationwide, following a positive trend over the last month, less than 1 percent of counties are labeled “high” while 6 percent are “medium” and the great majority — 93 percent — are labeled “low.”

The weekly metrics the CDC used to determine the current “low” level for Albany County are:

— Albany County now has a case rate of about 30 per 100,000 of population, a drop from last week’s 42, and a steady decrease to a quarter of 120 nine weeks ago;

— For the important COVID hospital admission rate, Albany County has a rate of 9.6 per 100,000, down from more than double that, 22.2, nine weeks ago; and

— Albany County now has 5.1 percent of its staffed hospital beds filled with COVID patients, down from 5.5 last week, hovering near the same mark for about a month, although down from the percentages for the previous eight weeks, which ranged from 6 to 8.

Evictions up

After a pandemic-induced moratorium on evictions that lasted almost two years, ending early in 2022, proceedings have topped pre-pandemic levels in 40 out of 62 counties statewide, according to an analysis by Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Albany County saw filings for 8 percent of renter households in 2022, according to the Eviction Filings Dashboard. The county, with 55,849 renter-occupied units, had 4,362 filings last year.

Two adjacent counties had higher rates: Schenectady at 9 percent and Rensselaer at nearly 11 percent.

Several neighboring counties had lower rates: Green and Saratoga at about 5 percent and Schoharie at less than 2 percent.

Trends highlighted by the dashboard “raise red flags about the potential for higher crime, weakened social ties and diminished democratic participation in areas where eviction filings are increasing,” according to a report from Cornell, quoting Russell Weaver, director of research at the ILR Buffalo Co-Lab.

Evictions are affecting all areas of the state, Weaver said, but they are especially concentrated in low-income communities of color.

Dashboard data shows that eight of the 10 counties with the highest eviction filing rates in 2022 were upstate, led by Rensselaer County with 10.7 filings per 100 renter households. Downstate, only the Bronx, with a rate of 9.5, and Suffolk County, with a rate of 8.6 filings per 100 renter households, ranked in the top 10.

A coalition of community partners led by Housing Justice for All is using the Eviction Filings Dashboard to build support for policies to reduce evictions. They include “good cause” protections against eviction; funding for a housing access voucher program; and a statewide right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.

Weaver’s analysis showed that in court proceedings about potential evictions, 90 percent of landlords were represented by counsel, compared with less than 40 percent of tenants.

“The data highlight a huge power imbalance between landlords and tenants,” Weaver said in the Cornell report, “and suggest that access to legal counsel could be one of the big drivers of evictions in New York state.”

Residents of Albany and Schenectady counties can call 518-400-5544 or email to reach the Legal Hand Call-In Center for free guidance.

“We offer assistance with public benefits, domestic violence, housing and employment law, family and elder law, and other categories too,” said Linds Hall, the center’s manager, in a February Altamont Enterprise podcast. “The only thing that we don’t assist on is divorce or criminal issues, and we don’t provide legal advice or representation.

“Rather, our mission is to inform and empower our visitors by providing them with all of the information that they need and showing them all of the resources that they have at their disposal so they can be sure that they know their rights and they can make the right decision for their individual situation.”

Weaver said research in places including Boston, Philadelphia, and Ohio has found that evicted households typically need to relocate multiple times, often leading to lower-quality housing in more precarious neighborhoods, according to the Cornell report. Family dislocations weaken neighborhood bonds and result in higher crime. And displaced tenants are less likely to vote.

“The data we have from New York state suggests that those findings are relevant here as well,” Weaver said in the report, asking, “If evictions eclipse pre-pandemic rates, what will that mean for safe communities, cohesive communities and democratic participation in society?”

Unemployment rates steady

On Tuesday, the state’s labor department released data showing New York’s seasonally adjusted unemployment held constant at 4.2 percent in February 2023.

For the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area, this February’s rate of 3.3 percent unemployment was down from last February’s rate of 3.7 percent.

For Albany County alone, the unemployment rate for February 2023 was 3.2 percent.

This February, 155,100 were employed in Albany compared to 152,000 last February, an increase of 3.1 percent.

At the same time, 5,100 were unemployed this February in Albany compared to 5,700 last February, a decrease of 0.5 percent.

Sales tax collections up

Meanwhile, according to an analysis by the state’s comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, local sales-tax collections statewide increased by 14.1 percent this February compared to last February.

Overall, local collections totaled $1.64 billion, up $203 million compared to the same time last year.

Albany County had the largest increase statewise at 48.8 percent, followed by Columbia at 29.1 percent, and Yates at 26.8 percent.

Onondaga County had the smallest growth at 8.9 percent.

All counties experienced strong increases in February collections, with most seeing double-digit growth. 

“While local sales tax collections continue to experience major growth in 2023, future collections may not grow at such a fast pace,” DiNapoli said in a statement, releasing his analysis. “With the nation and the state facing significant economic challenges, local governments should exercise caution and use responsible budgeting practices.”

Albany County COVID numbers

This week, Albany County’s 159th of dealing with COVID, numbers are continuing in the right direction with fewer new cases documented. The same is true statewide and nationwide.

This week, the governor’s office stopped sending daily press releases on COVID-19 counts, which had included deaths, listed by county. 

The county’s dashboard, as of Tuesday, March 28, showed a death toll of 630, which was one more male, at 303, and one more female, at 327, than last week.

As of March 21, according to Albany County’s COVID dashboard, 22 patients were hospitalized with COVID, down from 26 last week, 30 two weeks ago and 31 patients the week before, which was down from 39 four weeks ago, near the same mark for a month but down from 42 eight weeks ago, 43 nine weeks ago, and 46 ten weeks ago.

In New York state, according to the health department’s most recent figures, for samples collected between Feb. 26 and March 11, the Omicron variant made up 100 percent of new cases.

The Omicron sublineage XBB.1.5 dominates at 79 percent, down from 89 percent in the last fortnight, which had been increasing from 39 percent for the six weeks prior; 8 percent were XBB, up from 3 percent, while another 8 percent were BQ.1.1., also up from 3 percent during the previous fortnight, from Feb. 12 to 25. The other sublineages made up less than 3 percent of new cases.

Nationwide, according to the CDC, from March 19 to 25, the XBB.1.5 sublineage made up 90 percent of new cases, the same as last week, steadily rising from 49 percent nine weeks ago, followed by XBB.1.9.1, which jumped to 3 percent, and BQ.1.1 still at 3 percent, and XBB.1.5.1 at 2 percent.

Meanwhile, in our region, which includes New York, New Jersey, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, 94 percent of new cases are caused by the XBB.1.5 sublineage of Omicron; the percentage had grown steadily to 99 two weeks ago but has declined slightly while XBB.1.5.1 has gained ground to make up 3 percent of new cases followed by XBB.1.9.1 at 2 percent.

Although figures on infection rates are no longer reliable since tracing and tracking systems have been disbanded, the state dashboard shows that cases in Albany County as well as statewide have continued to decline in recent weeks.

Twelve weeks ago, rates for both the state and county had jumped after having leveled off in November following two months of climbing.

Albany County, as a seven-day average, has 5.2 cases per 100,000 of population, up from 4.1 last week but down from 6.5 two weeks ago and 8.7 three weeks ago, which has been in a more or less steady decline from 12.4 eleven weeks ago.

Numbers hovered between 8 and 11 before that, which was a fairly steady decrease from 21.8 cases per 100,000 twenty-eight weeks ago.

This compares with 5.1 cases per 100,000 statewide, up slightly from last week’s 4.9 but down from rates over the last month-and-a-half in the twenties following a fairly steady decrease from 30.03 per 100,000 of population five months ago.

The lowest rates are now in the Mohawk Valley at 4.1 per 100,000 or population and New York City, once a hotspot, now at 4.2.

The highest count is in the Finger Lakes at 8.3 cases per 100,000 as a seven-day average, followed by the North Country at 8.1.

The numbers for vaccination in Albany County have hardly budged for several months. The state’s dashboard now reports on these two categories:

— People with a primary series, for those who have completed the recommended initial series of a given COVID-19 vaccine product — two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine; and

— People who are up to date, for those who have completed all COVID-19 vaccinations, including the bivalent booster, as appropriate per age and clinical recommendations.

As of Tuesday, 21.7 percent percent of Albany County residents were up to date on vaccines, a gradual increase from 17.9 fifteen weeks ago, as opposed to the 61.5 percent of eligible residents who had received booster shots, as reported in prior weeks.

At the same time, 76.3 percent of county residents have completed a primary series, nearly the same as the last several months.

This compares with 76.5 percent of New Yorkers statewide completing a vaccination series, and 14.1 percent being up to date with vaccinations, up from 10.6 fifteen weeks ago.

New Yorkers are still being encouraged by the state’s health department to get bivalent COVID-19 vaccine boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for anyone age 5 or older and from Moderna for those 6 or older.

To schedule an appointment for a booster, New Yorkers are to contact their local pharmacy, county health department, or healthcare provider; visit vaccines.gov; text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations.