Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen noted this week that there are currently “increased rates in the community and increased severity.” She urged residents not to leave their homes for parties or other social gatherings. She also urged residents not to vilify people who have contracted COVID-19.

Assemblyman Chris Tague, a Republican, holds a solid lead over his Democratic opponent for the 102nd District seat, Betsy Kraat, according to the New York State Board of Elections early results.

Democratic Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara holds a narrow lead over his challenger, Republican Paul DeLorenzo, commanding 6,000 more votes as of Wednesday morning.

ALBANY COUNTY — Patricia Fahy, the Democratic incumbent representing District 109 in the State Assembly, bested her opponent, Libertarian Robert G. Porter, winning 68 percent of the vote on Tuesday.

As New York State continues to stem the spread of the coronavirus by focusing on micro-clusters, Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the state accounted for 10 percent of all of the nation’s COVID tests, and just 2.5 percent of the nation’s new COVID cases while representing 5.9 percent of the total United States population.

“There is no legitimate health reason,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters today of the current federal request for an identification number to administer COVID-19 vaccines, calling it an attempt to extort information that could be used to deport people. “I will not do it. I wouldn’t do it when they extorted me on [the] Trusted Traveler Program, and I won’t do it now,” said Cuomo.