“It’s time to start doubling down on the preventative measures instead of loosening restrictions,” said Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen.

Despite political barbs from both sides, Andrew Cuomo, New York’s Democratic governor who chairs the National Governors Association, has raised largely unanswered concerns about the Republican Trump administration’s distribution plan for COVID-19 vaccines.

Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen noted this week that there are currently “increased rates in the community and increased severity.” She urged residents not to leave their homes for parties or other social gatherings. She also urged residents not to vilify people who have contracted COVID-19.

ALBANY COUNTY — Patricia Fahy, the Democratic incumbent representing District 109 in the State Assembly, bested her opponent, Libertarian Robert G. Porter, winning 68 percent of the vote on Tuesday.

As New York State continues to stem the spread of the coronavirus by focusing on micro-clusters, Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the state accounted for 10 percent of all of the nation’s COVID tests, and just 2.5 percent of the nation’s new COVID cases while representing 5.9 percent of the total United States population.

Typically, in Albany County, about 140,000 to 144,000 residents vote in a presidential election. Matthew Clyne, the county’s Democratic election commissioner, estimated that — combining the early voters with the mail-in voters — about half that number had already cast their ballots before Election Day.

“There is no legitimate health reason,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters today of the current federal request for an identification number to administer COVID-19 vaccines, calling it an attempt to extort information that could be used to deport people. “I will not do it. I wouldn’t do it when they extorted me on [the] Trusted Traveler Program, and I won’t do it now,” said Cuomo.

To keep donors safe, a table for holiday gifts will be set up at Crossgates Mall in Guilderland from Nov. 8 to 13 and there will also be a drive-through for gifts to be dropped off on Nov. 21.

Over six months ago, Albany County set up a program to test residents in underserved neighborhoods for COVID-19. Today, New York’s governor and attorney general along with leaders of the NAACP and National Urban League called the Trump administration’s plan for distributing vaccines racist because it ignored the same communities that had been overlooked for testing.

As COVID-19 cases continue to spike in the county, two more elderly residents have died of the disease.