ALBANY COUNTY — Starting Thursday, small businesses can apply for grants to help with recovery from the pandemic as part of the $800 million COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program.

On Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed legislation to waive taxes on the grants.

Flexible grants of $5,000 up to $50,000 will be made available to eligible small businesses and small for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations.

The grants can be used for operating expenses, including payroll, rent or mortgage payments, taxes, utilities, personal protective equipment, or other business expenses incurred during the pandemic.

Over 330,000 small and micro businesses are potentially eligible for the program, including 57 percent of the state’s certified minority- and women-owned business enterprises, known as MWBEs, according to a release from the governor’s office.

Priority will be given to socially and economically disadvantaged business owners, service-disabled veteran-owned businesses and veteran-owned businesses, and businesses located in economically distressed communities.

Grants will be calculated based on a New York State business’s annual gross receipts for 2019. Reimbursable COVID-19 related expenses must have been incurred between March 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021.

Newest numbers

In a Tuesday morning press release, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced two new cases of COVID-19, bringing the county’s tally to 24,363. Neither of the new cases had a clear source of infection identified.

The five-day average for new daily positives decreased from 6.8 to 5.8. There are now 25 active cases in the county, down from 30 on Monday.

The number of Albany County residents under quarantine decreased to 102 from 109. So far, 79,756 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 24,338 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of six recoveries since Monday.

There was one new hospitalization overnight, and six county residents remain hospitalized from the virus. There are two patients currently in intensive-care units, down from three yesterday.

Albany county’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 383.

According to the state’s vaccine tracker, as of Tuesday evening, 64.0 percent of Albany County’s 301,117 residents had received at least one dose of vaccine and 77.3 percent of county residents 18 or older had received one shot.

Statewide, 54.6 percent of New Yorkers had received at least one dose while 66.4 percent of New Yorkers 18 or older had received at least one dose.

Both Albany County and New York State, as of Monday as a seven-day rolling average, had an infection rate of 0.5 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.