The new normal at Avanti Hair Studios in Guilderland will have stylists and customers in masks, staggered shifts, and vinyl curtains between workstations.

Experts reviewed New York State data before five regions got the green light to reopen Phase 2 businesses on Friday.

After the county closed its congregate-meal and adult day-care programs to stem the spread of the coronavirus, it turned to delivering meals to homebound seniors, which also served as a way to check on their welfare.

The county’s health commissioner said systems will be put in place so that the county is aware of deaths that nursing homes report to the state.

Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber is expecting a 20-percent reduction in sales-tax revenues for the second quarter, which amounts to a loss of about half-of-a-million dollars. But, he said, the town, is “in fairly good shape” financially since it has “healthy reserves,” which he described as being “in the millions of dollars.” He has no immediate plans to lay off or furlough town workers.

As Albany County ends the 11th week since the first two cases of COVID-19 were announced on March 12, the county executive says, “We are starting to go in the right direction ….” Both statewide and in Albany County, the curve has flattened and the Capital Region has completed the first week of the reopening of Phase 1 businesses.

The stock market, which reopened Tuesday, is smarter than before, the governor says, as masks are worn and distances kept. Similarly, Albany County’s executive said local businesses that reopened last week area following protocols and there have been no new COVID-19 deaths in Albany County since Thursday.

During the pandemic, New York Army National Guard duties have ranged from 300 service members helping to retrieve bodies from homes in New York City to members in Albany County distributing food to those who need it and helping at testing sites.

In announcing a slew of reopenings planned for next week, Governor Andrew Cuomo said at his Sunday press briefing from Jones Beach on Long Island, “We have been talking about the light at the end of the tunnel and we are dealing with it today in the here and now but we also have one eye on the future and, when we finish getting through

Local Democratic Assembly members — Patricia Fahy representing the 109th District and John Mcdonald representing the 108th — say that, although the State Legislature is not in session, they are busy holding hearings, drafting bills, and meeting constituents’ needs in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.