Albany County’s health commissioner, Elizabeth Whalen, reiterated that residents, while they wait to hear from health-department staff, can consult the department’s website for guidance on isolation if they have tested positive for COVID-19 and on quarantine if they have been exposed to someone with the disease.

The Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve secured $44,075 in grant money while the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy secured $33,710.

The first vaccines for COVID-19 were administered on Monday, including locally to high-risk health-care workers at Albany Medical Center.

In Albany County, 198 new COVID-19 cases were announced on Saturday with another 173 announced on Sunday.

ALBANY COUNTY — On Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo released much anticipated guidance for the new metrics that will define micro-cluster zones as part of his winter plan to combat COVID-19.

The data will be calculated using the new metrics over the weekend, he said, and any new zones will be announced on Monday.

ALBANY COUNTY — Workers at the county’s airport started being tested on Friday for COVID-19 using saliva swabs. By the end of the month, the airport hopes to offer the test to travelers, too, a spokesman said.

As many small businesses, hit hard by COVID-19 and restrictions to prevent its spread, struggle to make lease payments, a new program may help.

“We’ve learned a lot about how to care for patients with COVID so, when they come in, when we first diagnose them, we give them a cocktail of treatments right out of the gates,” Venditti said, naming  remdesivir, an antiviral medication; convalescent plasma, using blood from people who have recovered from COVID-19; and dexamethasone, a corticosteroid medication.

ALBANY COUNTY — In its 39th week of coping with COVID-19, Albany County broke several records more than once, and the county executive, Daniel McCoy, announced nine deaths from the disease, starting with five last Thursday.

With a continuing surge in COVID-19 cases, the county’s health department is deluged with calls and is experiencing a backlog, its commissioner said. She urged residents who test positive for the virus to look at guidance for isolation on the department’s website, and residents who have been exposed to COVID-19 to look for guidance on following quarantine protocols.