Feed Albany and the South End Children’s Café are accepting donations to provide food for those who need it in the midst of the pandemic.

“We are not in any way, shape, or form in a downward trend at this point,” says Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen as confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in the county.

“We’re  going to go through a time where we’re going to be seriously economically hurt, disadvantaged, and we need to continue to provide the services …,” said Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties.

Outbreaks of COVID-19 in nursing homes are not the result of inattentiveness or a shortcoming in facilities, according to Stephen Hanse, president and chief executive officer of the New York State Health Facilities Association and the New York State Center for Assisted Living. “The very nature of long-term care is a high-touch environment where social distancing is not an option. Staff are helping residents with bathing, dressing, eating, and other personal daily needs,” he said.

This week, Governor Andrew Cuomo extended the state’s “pause” to at least May 15 — keeping schools and nonessential businesses shut — and also has outlined a plan to “un-pause” New York.

“This is the information highway,” said Timothy Mundell, superintendent of the Berne-Knox-Westerlo schools, of wireless internet coming to the Hilltowns. “This is the economy of the 21st Century and we are preparing kids for their futures and not our past. The box-like object in front of him is an antenna for the new system to be installed by Hudson Valley Wireless.

Is a year-long COVID-caused depression with an unemployment rate not seen since 1940, the year before the United States entered World War II, within the realm of possibility?

ALBANY COUNTY — The statewide “pause” — shutting nonessential businesses and prohibiting gatherings — is extended until at least May 15, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday.

The closure is in concert with neighboring states.

COVID-19 testing will start Thursday in high-needs neighborhoods in Albany County.

 In times of high stress, like now, it can be hard for parents to make sound, smart choices, said Moira Manning, the county’s commissioner for Children, Youth, and Families. “They often times aren’t thinking before they act.”