ALBANY COUNTY — Both the governor and Albany County’s health commissioner urged continued caution on Thursday as more businesses and activities open.

Five regions of the state have been cleared by global experts on COVID-19 tracking to begin the third of four phases of reopening on Friday. The Capital Region, of which Albany County is a part, is scheduled to begin Phase 3 on June 17.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced, starting Thursday, that the state is allowing localities to open public pools and playgrounds at their discretion while following state guidance.

Cuomo said of local governments, “They have to use their judgment here … They should be studying the test data, they should be looking at those positives and see where the positives are coming from. If the positives are in a cluster, a neighborhood that has that pool, don't open the pool.”

He went on, “Well everybody wants to swim, I understand. Everybody doesn't want to see a spike in COVID again. So, use your judgment. Sometimes yes is not the right answer. It's the easy answer.”

Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber wrote Thursday in his daily emailed missive to town residents, “To open as planned on Monday, July 6th, the Tawasentha Park pool still requires County DOH’s certification. The pool will operate under health guidelines, including regular cleaning and disinfecting and reduced capacity. As a result, entry will be restricted to town residents. The pool schedule will offer swim lessons, lap swimming, and open swimming.”

Barber urged residents to check the town’s website for details on scheduling.

Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen, at the county’s press briefing on Thursday, shared the governor’s optimism as well as his caution.

“The numbers are encouraging but one thing I can say with certainty are the numbers, despite their improvement, do not indicate that coronavirus is gone,” said Whalen. “COVID-19 is still around and it is still incumbent on all of us to make sure we’re protecting ourselves.

“The best strategies are the continued use of widespread testing. If you have symptoms or if you have been exposed or if you have been in a high-risk situation such as a mass gathering, please get tested for COVID, urged Whalen. “It is only through early identification, isolation of cases, and quarantine of contacted individuals that we can continue to stop the spread.”

At his briefing, too, Cuomo stressed the importance of testing and the data produced from testing. He listed a series of states that had begun reopening and experienced spikes in the number of COVID-19 cases.

New York State has had more cases and more deaths from COVID-19 than any other state, with the epicenter in densely populated New York City, which started Phase 1 reopening this week.

“We are the exception and an outrageous exception,” said Cuomo of New York State. “We so far have the exact opposite phenomenon,” he said of states that have reopened and seen the number of COVID-19 cases increase. “We reopen, the number continues to go down … How can that be? Because our reopening is different than their reopening. Our reopening is based on the numbers. Our reopening is phased. And because New Yorkers have been smart and they’ve been diligent.”

Guidelines

Guidance for Phase 3 business is available on the state’s website.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy urged business owners and consumers alike to tune into two webinars being offered on Friday, June 12, by the Small Business Development Center of New York on Phase 3 Reopening. The first, at 1 p.m., will be focused on food services and the second, at 3 p.m., will focus on personal-care services.

McCoy urged consumers, “We’d like you to hop on the webinar, too, because it educates you. And, the more people that are educated … is going to make us all safer.”

McCoy noted that the State Liquor Authority is allowing restaurants and bars that serve food to also serve liquor in outdoor settings. Restaurants and bars, as part of Phase 2 — the phase in which Albany County is now — can serve customers only outdoors.

Cuomo on Thursday cautioned restaurants in Phase 2 regions against indoor dining, saying, if they didn’t follow the rules, “You can lose your liquor license, you can lose your right to operate. So, this is very serious. Short-term gain isn’t worth long-term pain.”

Many local restaurants have expanded service onto sidewalks, streets, and parking lots. “The SLA is granting a waiver,” said McCoy.

Businesses licensed by the State Liquor Authority are allowed to use contiguous open-air land controlled by deed, lease, or management agreement. But a diagram has to be submitted to the authority, showing the space being used.

At the same time, towns, cities, and villages that allow businesses to expand onto municipal-owned land, like sidewalks or streets, must also submit a plan, as detailed on the authority’s website. McCoy said to mayors and supervisors, “Yes, you can close down streets.”

Businesses, even those that have already been doing this, have five business days to submit their plans, said McCoy. “Do a little diagram,” he urged. “You don’t need an architect.”

He also noted that tents are acceptable as long as the flaps are up and that tables must be “socially distanced.”

“It just protects you,” said McCoy, concluding, “It has to be on record and you are covered not to be fined.”

McCoy also said that he had learned from Capital Region control-room talks, “Garage sales are a go.”

He went on, “It has to be socially distanced, no more than 10 people, and you’ve got to just make sure it’s spaced out.”

He concluded, “For people who like to go out garage sale-ing, just remember to wear your mask.”

McCoy also noted that the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles will open in Phase 3 for “limited personal interactions at a scheduled time.” He said residents should call ahead to make an appointment.

McCoy concluded on Day 92, “The light’s at the end of the tunnel.”

New numbers

Another county resident — a woman in her eighties — has succumbed to the coronavirus 2019, bringing the county’s COVID-19 death toll to 117.

On June 4, seventy-eight people took advantage of COVID-19 diagnostic testing offered for protesters and first responders, but those test results are not yet back, McCoy said. On June 11, another 48 protesters and first responders were tested.

As of Thursday morning, Albany County has 1,813 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, with 469 residents under mandatory quarantine and five under precautionary quarantine.

The five-day average for new daily positives is now down to 4.6.

So far, 5,130 Albany County residents have completed quarantine, with 1,553 of them having tested positive and recovered. The recovery rate for Albany County now stands at 85.65 percent.

Thirteen county residents are hospitalized, bringing the hospitalization rate to 0.71 percent.