With students back in full force this year, staying three feet rather than six feet apart, mask-wearing becomes more important.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy reported in his daily release on Wednesday morning five new hospitalizations, meaning 30 county residents are now hospitalized with the virus — a net increase of three. There are now 10 patients in intensive-care units, up from eight yesterday.

ALBANY COUNTY — As Albany County experienced its fourth COVID-19 death this week — a woman in her fifties — Governor Kathy Hochul was in Buffalo, her home turf, announcing plans for unvaccinated school staff to be tested weekly and also plans to administer booster shots through local health departments.

As newcomers move to Voorheesville and New Scotland, Alan Kowlowitz hopes they will embrace their heritage, not as a matter of genetics, a love of place handed down through family, but rather like the love that ties a marriage together.

GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland School Board is seeking to fill a vacancy for the seat previously held by Benjamin Goes, who recently resi

An unvaccinated Marin County teacher had COVID symptoms on May 19 but continued to teach, testing positive for the virus on May 21. A total of 27 cases were identified, according to a study posted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC produced a chart showing where her 24 students sat (22 of them were tested); those closest to the teacher, in the front row, were all infected.

On Saturday, the county’s executive, Daniel McCoy, reported on the death of a woman in her seventies; on Sunday, he reported a man in his fifties and a man in his sixties had died.

Albany County has 142,884 households; more than a third — 52,331 households — are low-income. About the same number — 52,702 households — are rental. Nearly a quarter of Albany County’s households — 33,695 — are low-income rental households and nearly a seventh of the county’s households — 20,135 — are low-income, rent-burdened households.

If you have been hurt by the pandemic, you should apply for rent relief funds. You have no doubt been paying taxes for years. This is your money, from your government, to which you are entitled. It will help you to receive these funds and it will help your landlord too. If you have shelter and your basic needs are met, you can climb the hierarchy to a place that will benefit others.

ALBANY COUNTY — For the second time in as many weeks, another Albany County resident has died of COVID-19.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy made the announcement in a Saturday morning press release. This brings the county’s death toll from the virus to 390.