ALBANY COUNTY — This week, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the county’s health department gave the same guidance to Albany County residents: Wear a mask indoors in public whether you are vaccinated or not.
The guidance comes because New York State remains the nation’s epicenter of coronavirus infection, spurred by subvariants of Omicron.

While hospitalizations and deaths are far less than with the original Omicron surge in January, both are increasing.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy reported six COVID-related deaths this week: a man in his fifties, a woman in her sixties, a man in his sixties, a woman in her eighties, a woman in her nineties, and a man in his nineties.

One was an earlier death; the other five deaths were new this week. This brings the county’s COVID-19 death toll to 549.

“Our infection rate continues to rise at an alarming rate, and we are likely not detecting the full level of community spread as many at-home COVID tests go unreported,” said McCoy in a release Tuesday, announcing the latest numbers.

“Albany County’s average percent positive rate has jumped from 3.3 percent to 13.5 percent over the last month. Sadly, as the virus spreads more and more, hospitalizations rise and we see more deaths, and my condolences go out to the families who lost loved ones over the last few days,” he said.

Albany County’s most recent seven-day average of COVID cases per 100,000 is now up to 37.7. This compares with 28.3 cases a week ago, 21.1 cases two weeks ago, and 11.0 cases per 100,000 three weeks ago.

Statewide, there are 32.63 cases per 100,000 of population as Central New York has the highest rate at 51.36 cases as a seven-day average.

Albany County’s infection rate — the percentage of positive tests — is now at 13.5 percent. This compares to 9.1 percent a week ago, 7.5 percent two weeks ago, 3.5 percent three weeks ago, and 2.6 percent four weeks ago. As McCoy noted, this metric is considered less reliable now that so many people use home tests.

Albany County continues to encourage residents to submit positive at-home COVID test results to the county website.

Statewide, the infection rate is 7.12 percent; Western New York has the highest positivity rate, as a seven-day average, at 15.78.

Thirty-one Albany County residents are now hospitalized with the coronavirus, with three of them in intensive-care units.

This compares to 30 county residents a week ago, 21 county residents hospitalized two weeks ago, and 13 hospitalized three weeks ago.

Experts believe hospitalizations and deaths are less frequent now than with earlier surges because more people have antibodies — either from vaccination or previous infection — and treatments are more readily available.

Last Friday, Albany County was labeled by the CDC as having a “high” community level of COVID-19; this means masks are to be worn indoors in public.

Most counties in the nation are labeled as “low” while most counties in New York State are labeled either “medium” or “high.”

The CDC’s three-tiered system is based on new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 of population as a seven-day total and on the percent of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients as a seven-day average.

Under the CDC’s four-tiered system, based on percentage of positive tests, or infection rate, the entire state of New York is colored red for “high” community transmission of the virus, as is most of New England.

Governor Kathy Hochul last Wednesday said two new subvariants of Omicron are responsible for the surge in New York State.

The CDC reports, as of April 23, that New York and New Jersey now have 40.9 percent of their COVID cases caused by the original Omicron variant (BA.2) while 58.1 percent are caused by one of the new subvariants, BA.2.12.1.

Advisory

On Monday afternoon, Albany County’s health department put out an advisory “strongly recommending all residents, regardless of vaccination status, … wear masks in indoor public spaces, including private businesses.”

The advisory was issued because of the rising positivity rate in Albany County, according to the county’s spokeswoman, Mary Rozak.

Hochul last week said that, despite a federal judge in Florida lifting the mask requirement for travelers, New Yorkers, because of the subvariant surge, would have to continue to mask in certain settings.

This includes buses and bus stations, trains and train stations, subway and subway stations, and airports. It also includes homeless and domestic-violence shelters, correctional facilities, and state-regulated health-care and adult-care facilities and nursing homes.

Hochul had lifted the mask-or-vax requirement for businesses in February, and the mask mandate for schools not in New York City was lifted on March 2.

Both Albany county and the CDC continue to encourage people to complete their primary COVID-19 vaccine series, get boosted when eligible, test when not feeling well or potentially exposed, and to contact a health-care provider following testing positive to discuss eligibility for treatments.

Just over a quarter of Albany County residents still have not been fully vaccinated.

“The best way to protect ourselves and those around us is by getting vaccinated, getting booster shots, getting tested, and wearing masks while indoors as we continue to grapple with this latest surge of infections,” said McCoy in his Tuesday release.

The last time Albany County issued a mask advisory was in early December. It was issued jointly with Schenectady County as infection rates, after Thanksgiving gatherings, surged, topping the rates from the year before. The Delta variant was still dominant.

That same week, the first Omicron cases were reported in New York State. Soon after, the Omicron variant surged well beyond both former and current rates.

McCoy said in early December that he had conferred with the other county leaders in the Capital Region, and only Schenectady County Manager Rory Fluman was willing to issue the new advisories.

“The only way new restrictions will truly work is if we do it on a regional approach,” said McCoy at the time.

Fluman agreed that the mask advisories should be regional. “For me,” he said, “it’s about citizenship … wearing a mask is a good thing to do as an American citizen.”

The advisories then and now are not a mandate and have no enforcement mechanism.

“It’s just an advisory,” Rozak told The Enterprise Monday when asked if there were any penalties for not masking indoors.

The Enterprise also asked Rozak what the latest numbers were for wastewater surveillance in Albany County since COVID levels in wastewater can predict what is to come in infection rates.

Wastewater samples collected and analyzed on April 4 in Albany County showed a 32-percent spike in COVID-19 intensity over a two-week period, the county reported earlier this month. Rozak said, though, that the state runs the surveillance program and the county doesn’t have those numbers; she said she’d put in a request.

Rozak also noted that wastewater samples are taken from the Albany County Water Purification District’s South Plant, which serves just a portion of the city, and may not apply to Albany County as a whole.

The state site has a map in which the area of Albany County served by the South Plant is colored red for “high.” It says the plant serves an estimated population of 80,922. (Albany County’s population is over 300,000.)

The site also says the last sample was from April 18 and there was “0 percent decrease in intensity over two weeks.”

Wadsworth funding

Last Thursday, Hochul announced the award of an initial design contract for a $750 million public-health laboratory on the Harriman State Office Campus.

Gilbane/Turner will work with the design firm HOK in constructing a new Wadsworth Laboratory that will consolidate operations currently spread out among several Capital Region facilities.

The contract, according to a release from the governor’s office, will comprise several phases: This initial investment will explore options for a new basis of design, ranging from partial to full consolidation of Wadsworth facilities to effectively respond to potential future public-health crises.

The Wadsworth Laboratory focuses on a range of public health concerns, including responding to public health threats, studying emerging infections, analyzing environmental exposures, and licensing clinical and environmental laboratories.

Since its origins developing communicable diseases treatments in 1901 and the development of the Division of Laboratories and Research in 1914, the release said, the Wadsworth Center has grown to become the largest and most diverse state public health laboratory in the United States.

“As New York State’s nationally recognized public health laboratory, the Wadsworth Center is uniquely positioned to respond to public health emergencies as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mary Bassett, the state’s health commissioner, in a statement. “This initial investment ensures the building of a state-of-the-art laboratory to continue and strengthen the expert analysis of disease specimens and environmental samples to protect the health of all New Yorkers.”

Food help

Also last Thursday, Hochul announced that New Yorkers enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will receive the maximum allowable level of food benefits for April.

All households participating in SNAP — including those already at the maximum level of benefits — will receive a supplemental allotment this month, which will result in New York State’s economy receiving roughly $232 million in federal funding, according to a release from the governor’s office.

“By providing the maximum level of food benefits to those in need, we can help struggling households make ends meet and keep food on the table as we continue our economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis,” said Hochul in the release.

SNAP households in all counties outside of New York City should see these extra benefits post by Friday, April 22. 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.

New Yorkers continue to rely heavily on SNAP, with more than 1.6 million households throughout the state enrolled in the program in February. More than 2.8 million New Yorkers received benefits in February, the most since June 2021.

Last Friday, the state announced $20 million in federal funding to help with food purchases for multigenerational families.

Starting April 23, one-time payments will be issued to households enrolled in public assistance or SNAP that have both an adult who is 55 or older and a child who is 17 or under, where both the child and adult are in receipt of these benefits.

Households will get $730 for each eligible older adult in the household. About  26,300 households expected to receive this assistance.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disproportionately impact those New Yorkers who were struggling even before the public health emergency began,” Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Commissioner Daniel W. Tietz said in a statement.. “This one-time benefit will bring welcome relief to older adults with children or teens living in their household as our state collectively recovers from the economic tumult of the past two years.”

Nursing homes close

Last Thursday, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living released a report highlighting data that shows the growing number of nursing home closures since 2015, as well as projected closings in the months ahead.

“The report reinforces urgent calls for solutions to address the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a historic workforce crisis,” said a release from the organization announcing the report.

The report says that more than 1,000 nursing homes have closed since 2015, including 776 closures before the pandemic and 327 closures during the pandemic.

Since 2015, nearly 45,000 nursing home residents have been displaced due to closures.

The report also projects that more than 400 nursing homes will close in 2022 based on current financials.

Analyzing federal data, the report found nursing homes that close tend to be smaller facilities in urban settings where the majority of residents rely on Medicaid.

During the pandemic, nearly half of nursing homes that closed received 4- or 5-star ratings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, more than one-quarter were in rural communities, and an increasing proportion were not-for-profit.

Hospital visits

Starting on April 25, St. Peter’s and Samaritan hospitals began new protocols for visitors.

Patients can have one unique visitor a day during visiting hours, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.

COVID patients undergoing continuous aerosol-generating procedures are permitted one unique visitor per day for one hour.

All visitors will be asked to show ID and be screened for temperature. Each will be given a medical-grade face mask and are expected to wear it at all times.

“Visitors are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated,” the guidance from St. Peter’s Health Partners says in boldface.

“During this unprecedented time, it has been necessary to balance the benefits of visitation to our hospitalized patients with the potential risks of COVID-19 spread,” the policy says.

“Visitors who are at high risk for severe illness from COVID-19, such as older adults and those with underlying medical conditions,” the policy says, “are strongly discouraged from visiting at this time.

“Likewise, a planned visit to any patient who is at a higher risk of acquiring and suffering significant consequences from COVID-19 should be considered a greater risk than benefit to that patient.”

More accommodating rules are in place for the emergency department, for labor and delivery, for end-of-life hospice care, and for special-needs patients.

Albany Medical Center Hospital is continuing the pandemic visitors’ policy it has had in place since Feb. 28.

Visiting hours run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Two people can visit at a time and visitors must be 12 or older. Surgical masks are required.

All visitors must enter through a single entrance where they will be screened.

Exceptions include visits for patients near the end of life, parents or guardians with hospitalized children, and birthing partners.