In a time of worry about youth unwittingly spreading COVID-19, local college leaders share their plans for reopening campuses.

The coronavirus uptick in Albany County continues with 29 new cases announced today and two more deaths.

Both state and county leaders made renewed and urgent calls for people — especially young people prone to parties — to keep their distance and wear masks. The governor set up requirements that bars serve food and announced several downstate bars that drew crowds and didn’t follow the rules were shut down.

As New York attempts to protect itself from an influx of COVID-19 by adding 10 more states to its travel-advisory list, Albany County has another uptick in local cases.

ALBANY COUNTY — The county had just one new case of COVID-19 yesterday after a week of upticks.

Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday said, “You look across the regions of the state, we see good news all across the regions. No warning signs or no trouble spots.”

Seven of today’s 17 new COVID-19 cases in Albany County are linked to a Fourth of July party in several backyards on Hudson Avenue, bringing the total number of positives from that party to 22.

Counties have been running COVID-19 testing facilities, tracing contacts, managing quarantine, “leading a 24/7 emergency response” as well as providing food assistance to families and seniors in need and schoolchildren, said Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties. At the same time counties are providing these essential, but often not budgeted services, Acquario said, they have “faced an economic quadruple threat.”

Another 13 Albany County residents tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, including four linked to a Fourth of July party in Albany, bringing that total to 15.

Albany County is dealing with a growing cluster of COVID-19 cases from a Fourth of July gathering where party-goers didn’t wear masks and didn’t keep their distance.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy sounded the alarm Wednesday because the county had 44 new COVID-19 cases, the highest one-day total since May 20. Throughout the week, the state announced initiatives to feed, house, and insure New Yorkers suffering from the coronavirus shutdown.