“I think people need to realize that reopening is not flicking an ‘on’ switch. It’s a dial of continuum,” said Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen on Wednesday as the Capital Region entered the third of four reopening phases.

Mall brawls, a problem that had ceased with the shutdown of Crossgates Mall, has reemerged as mall stores with outdoor entrances reopen.

As the governor is requiring municipal police departments to come up with reform plans based on community input, Guilderland’s deputy chief, Curtis Cox, says his department has always welcomed public input, and already trains on strategies like de-escalation and has an anti-racial-profiling policy.

“Enforcement goes down to the consumers and the workers,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy.

The Capital Region is on track to start Phase 3 reopening on Wednesday.

As the Capital Region is on the cusp of entering the third of four reopening phases, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that residents of Phase 3 regions may gather in groups of 25 rather than the previous maximum of 10.

The governor has announced that low-risk youth sports can start July 6 for regions in Phase 3. Albany County, as part of the Capital Region, is slated to begin Phase 3 reopening on Wednesday.

New York State, the governor said, which had the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rate in the United States and in the world now has the lowest transmission rate in the nation.

The county’s comptroller, Susan Rizzo, announced at Friday’s county press briefing that, as part of a recent refinancing, Standard & Poor’s has assessed Albany County’s credit worthiness, and reaffirmed its rating of AA “with a stable outlook while other municipalities were downgraded due to the pandemic.” She said the refinancing will save taxpayers over $1 million.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced, starting Thursday, that the state is allowing localities to open public pools and playgrounds at their discretion while following state guidance. Cuomo said of local governments, “They have to use their judgment here … They should be studying the test data, they should be looking at those positives and see where the positives are coming from. If the positives are in a cluster, a neighborhood that has that pool, don't open the pool.”