The state has set up a program, with federal funds, to provide aid for tenants who lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ALBANY COUNTY — Albany County is down $16 million from where it was last year for second-quarter sales-tax revenues, the county’s executive Daniel McCoy, reported on Monday.

He termed the 25-percent drop from a year ago “a very huge hit.”

Schools in New York State are to reopen based on data, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday.

The state is divided into 10 regions; each is going through four phases of reopening, based on metrics.

While President Donald Trump and Republican State Assembly members are calling for schools to reopen this fall, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that the state will decide during the first week of August, based on data, whether schools will reopen then. The state’s Regents chancellor, acting education commissioner, and the largest teachers’ union all backed the governor’s announcement. Plans to reopen schools are due from the state’s more than 700 districts on July 31.

On the heels of the Fourth of July weekend, Albany County Health commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said the county has been receiving complaints of residents who are returning from visits to listed states. Whalen urged those residents to contact the health department, to follow the 14-day required quarantine, and to get tested.

Calling Guilderland’s fall reopening plan “a work in progress,” Superintendent Marie Wiles said, “We have not made any decisions on the structure … We’re doing our homework. We’re waiting for key guidance on the amount of distance we have to provide between and among students.”

“The state has directed all 700 school districts to come up with a plan on how they would reopen,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. “There's two levels of discussion: Should they reopen and then, if they reopen, what does a reopened school look like in the ‘new normal?’”

The Capital Region begins Phase 4 on Wednesday but large malls, gyms, and amusement parks are not allowed to open.

“Productions are currently seeking lower-density areas that can provide more flexibility and safety, and we can definitely do that here in Albany,” said Discover Albany Film Commissioner Deb Goedeke.

As of midnight on June 24, travelers from states with a high rate of COVID-19 — for now, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah, and Texas — will have to self-quarantine for 14 days on arrival in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut.