Two more county residents have died of COVID-19 and the county is in its fourth of 10 consecutive days of meeting a threshold that would declare it a precautionary yellow zone.
Albany County’s health commissioner and executive have frequently urged residents to stay home with their immediate families for Thanksgiving. Both McCoy and Whalen have said that they themselves are not gathering with extended family but rather dining just with immediate family members at home.
Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo finally signed into law a ban tailored specifically to keep Norlite, in Cohoes, from burning fire-fighting foams — aqueous film-forming foam, known as AFF.
The foam contains PFAS which can cause health problems.
As sales-tax revenues continue to fall short of last year’s mark and as New York State residents continue to pay more in federal taxes than the state gets back in programs, according to new reports from the comptroller’s office, Governor Andrew Cuomo has sent a letter to congressional leaders urging quick passage of more federal pandemic relief.
If Albany County stays above the 3-percent threshold for 10 days, it will be declared a yellow zone, the least restrictive of the three zones in the state’s micro-cluster strategy, which began on Oct. 6.
Schools can stay open in yellow zones but 20 percent of students and staff must be tested each week for COVID-19. Houses of worship are limited to 50 percent capacity, mass gatherings are limited, and no more than four people can dine at a restaurant table whether inside or out.
“It’s true that New York’s pandemic benchmarks are currently low compared to the rest of the country. At the current rate of increase, however, the state is on track to catch up,” wrote Bill Hammond in an Empire Center report.
