A New York variant of the virus, known as B.1.526, has been increasing in recent weeks. 

The Albany Alternative Treatment Court will be the first mental health court in the 3rd Judicial District, one of 31 such courts across the state with four more being planned. It was the “missing piece” in a continuum of services Albany County offers to mentally ill residents.

Over 25,000 people have signed up on the county’s online pre-registration tool for COVID-19 vaccination appointments; 19,000 are Albany County residents. “It overwhelmed us,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy. “It was a lot more people pre-registering than I imagined … It really shows the need.”

On Thursday, President Joe Biden addressed, remotely, the National Governors Association, which Andrew Cuomo chairs. Biden stressed his theme of uniting Americans and urged support of the American Rescue Plan.

Dr. Ward Stone, Troy

ALBANY COUNTY — The 20-acre Lansing Farm on Lisha Kill Road — all that remains of the original 1,000-acre farm — in suburban Colonie has been conserved.

Falling COVID-19 infection rates have led to the relaxing of rules for quarantining at schools in the county and for the state opening up a variety of economic sectors and allowing visitors in nursing homes.

These local students were named to the dean’s list from their college or university for the fall 2020 semester:

— David Bell of Delmar, at University of Hartford in Connecticut with a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher;

These local students were named to the president's list from Western New England University in Massachusetts for the fall 2020 semester with a grade point average of 3.80 or higher:

— Andrew Masullo of Altamont, majoring in civil engineering;

— Kelsey McMillen of Voorheesville, majoring in general business;

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that 18 new cases of B.1.1.7 — the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant first identified in the United Kingdom — have been identified in New York State. This brings the state’s total of known B.1.1.7 cases to 154.