NYS gears up to create hospital space, manufacture masks and medical equipment

The combination of not enough tests, people still being out, and the COVID-19 being community acquired is “very concerning,” said Elizabeth Whalen, Albany County’s health commissioner.

Albany Medical Center and St. Peter’s Health Partners are suspending COVID-19 community testing, the hospitals announced on Thursday evening.

Effective immediately, St. Peter’s will be testing only symptomatic health-care providers at its Albany Memorial Campus at 600 Northern Blvd. in Albany.

Some of the towns with land on the Helderberg escarpment where large wind turbines were proposed in 2008 drafted laws on wind energy; others haven’t.

Local schools, though closed, are continuing to provide sustenance to students — food and social services for those who need it as well as remote teaching.

The president of Albany Medical Center, Dennis McKenna, estimates Albany Med has two to three days left of testing kits for COVID-19. “We are dependent on availability of tests,” he said. “If kits are in short supply, they will be kept for patients in-house or the population most at risk.”

“It will be a question of triage,” the governor said when coronavirus peaks in New York and the state has less than half of the hospital beds needed.

A 7-year-old is among the 10 newly confirmed cases of coronavirus disease, bringing Albany County’s total to 25, County Executive Daniel McCoy announced at this morning’s press conference.

The financial crippling that is spreading along with the coronavirus has led the state to suspend debt collection for at least 30 days, starting today.

A bill guaranteeing job protection and pay for New Yorkers quarantined because of the coronavirus has been agreed upon by State Senate and Assembly leaders, the governor announced today.