Eleven more cases of the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 — the highly transmissible variant first identified in the United Kingdom — have been identified in New York State, bringing the state’s total to 70.

Last May, men accounted for 43 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Albany County while women accounted for 47 percent. “It’s flipped since springtime,” said County Executive Daniel McCoy. Now, women account for more than 54 percent of deaths and men for less than 46 percent.

When the first Shaker Place resident died of COVID-19, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said, he was faced with a choice of reporting it or not. He said he had learned from being at war, “It eventually comes out.”

ALBANY COUNTY — Albany County — including the municipal governments within its boundaries — is slated to get $173,960,989 under the 2021 Fiscal Reconciliation Act currently moving through Congress.

The number of overdoses in Albany County for 2020 represents a 68-percent increase from the annual average over the last five years. Fentanyl — a synthetic opioid pain reliever that is increasingly illicitly manufactured — was present in 88 percent of all county opioid overdoses last year. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new guidance on effective mask-wearing and also releasing fully vaccinated people from quarantine restrictions.

New York State is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify additional sites outside of New York City to launch targeted efforts focused on vaccine equity and improving access to socially vulnerable populations; each site is to vaccinate 1,000 New Yorkers per day. 

New York along with a score of other states is now below the 5-percent threshold that the World Health Organization advised governments to reach, and hold for 14 days, before reopening.

With the addition of people with comorbidities, about 10 million New Yorkers are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations. The state gets about 300,000 doses each week and the vaccines require two doses.

“As of today, following the science, scrimmages and games can start if the school has submitted everything they need to submit,”said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy.