As Albany County’s death toll from COVID-19 climbed to nine this week, county officials are pleased that community testing has started again

On Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the State Department of Labor to immediately make $600 in additional weekly unemployment benefits available to all New Yorkers.

With people stuck at home, rates of domestic abuse are on the rise, but Albany County’s Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center is getting fewer calls than normal. “People may be afraid to go to the hospital due to fears of contracting COVID-19,” Director Karen Ziegler told The Enterprise. 

The Hilltowns’ annual Memorial Day Parade, put on by the Helderberg Kiwanis Club, has been canceled over concerns of the coronavirus pandemic. The American Legion in Voorheesville and the Parade Committee in Altamont have also cancelled their parades. 

“Internationally and globally, air traffic is down well over 90 percent … That has been devastating to the industry but it is a necessary pain to go through to deal with this virus and get it under control,” said Phil Calderone, chief executive officer of Albany International Airport.

The State Education Department has cancelled the June Regents exams and on Tuesday issued guidelines for graduation.

“When we finally come out of the other side of this crisis,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy of the pandemic, “we need to jumpstart the economy.” A plan presented Tuesday calls for the creation of an independent public-private organization and a comprehensive plan for Albany County.

Peter Barber, Guilderland’s supervisor, announced on Tuesday afternoon, that two paramedics in the town’s EMS had tested positive for the disease. “Both medics are asymptomatic and resting well at home under quarantine,” Barber said.

“Words are only 15 percent of communication. This virus has stolen from us some of the most important things it means to be human — to be together, to gather for a meal and eat, to hold the hand of a dying person,” says Christopher DeGiovine, the priest at St. Matthew’s Church in Voorheesville.

Commander Brian Wood, who runs the Albany County Office of Emergency Management, said social distancing in the western part of the county has been a success.