“We have to toe the line until we get through the worst of this,” said Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen.

“You propose on Valentine’s Day and then you can have the wedding ceremony March 15, up to 150 people. People will actually come to your wedding because you can tell them with the testing it will be safe,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo, announcing reopening plans on Friday.

Albany County’s infection rate is now at 6.9 percent.

Howard Zucker, the state’s health commissioner, responded, “The OAG affirms that the total number of deaths in hospitals and nursing homes is full and accurate.”

“It will be through due diligence and science that this decision will be made,” said Albany County Health Commissioner of whether high-risk sports will be allowed.

Certainly, we commend local colleges for their strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 but the bottom line, based on the science, is: Remote-only classes should be held until enough staff and students have been vaccinated for herd immunity.

While Guilderland Councilwoman Laurel Bohl sees Stephen Feeney’s planning-board chairmanship as problematic, Supervisor Peter Barber sees Feeney as not just experienced but as heroic in helping the town.

Health-care workers are to be vaccinated in hospitals, essential workers are to be vaccinated by city and county health departments or through unions, and people 65 or older are to be vaccinated by pharmacies and mass sites run by the state.

Governor Andrew Cuomo praised President Joe Biden’s recent implementation of testing international travelers. “These new strains are 30 percent to 70 percent more transmissible. That’s a problem and that’s why you’ll see those numbers going up,” Cuomo said.

On Monday, two different groups wrote to Governor Andrew Cuomo, urging change on vaccine distribution.