One of the state’s new initiatives is a pilot program — including Albany — to detect the presence of COVID-19 in wastewater, which is designed to set up an early indicator system to forecast the virus spread in communities. “Believe it or not, you can find the presence of COVID-19 in wastewater,” said the governor during a conference call with the press on Friday.

The announcement that New York would reopen schools came against a backdrop in which a research team at the University of Florida isolated live virus from aerosols collected at a distance of seven to 16 feet from patients hospitalized with COVID-19, which is further than the six feet recommended in social-distancing guidelines. Although not yet vetted by peer review, the findings have raised concern about school reopenings.

“While we cannot say this is a completely risk-free environment, we’re in a pretty good place,” said Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen of schools reopening in the county. “We’re probably in the best place possible.”

The “million-dollar question,” Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said, is: “Are we going to get back to some type of normalcy and how long will it take?”

The age group with the highest number of cases, at 480, remains those between the ages 20 to 29. Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said she is concerned about that age group “in terms of spread and in terms of more potential infection.”

Food pantries are not income-based but rather serve individuals and families based on need.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy revealed that an antibody test showed he had had COVID-19 in December or January when he was traveling out-of-state. He added, “It doesn’t mean I can’t get it again … so I am cautious.”

School leaders planning reopening are “repurposing” resources as they face added expenses to keep students and staff safe from COVID-19. At the same time, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy is urging residents to show support for the Democratic federal stimulus plan that includes funds for state and local governments.

Albany County continued with a second week of upticks in cases as numbers improved across most of the state. On Wednesday, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced two more deaths from the virus as well as 20 new confirmed cases.