Potentially cheaper energy rates will have to wait as municipalities deal with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

No inmates at the Albany County jail have contracted COVID-19, said Sheriff Craig Apple. New arrivals are quarantined for 14 days, Apple said, and all of the inmates and staff have masks.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said that the eight counties in the Capital Region — Albany, Columbia, Greene, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Warren, and Washington — now meet five out of the seven metrics outlined by Governor Andrew Cuomo for reopening.

More than half of Albany County’s jobs fall in the second phase, outlined by the governor for reopening businesses, which would mean June at the earliest.

As the new cases of COVID-19 have dropped statewide, Albany County is still waiting to hit its apex.

“If you can open your heart and open your home, we would love to have you foster a child,” said Moira Manning, Albany County’s commissioner for the Department for Children, Youth and Families, giving this phone number to start the process: 518-447-7515.

“We received word overnight,” said Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen at Friday’s press briefing of expanded testing at the University at Albany. “They’re looking to cast a much broader net of people that need to be screened or tested for COVID-19.”

Prosecutors and defense attorneys along with judges no longer gather in a courtroom for an arraignment but rather each works from his or her own home or office, connecting through Skype.

The United States Post Office was critical to the American colonies in winning their independence from England and it grew with the nation as mail traveled by horseback, by stagecoach, by steamship, by train, and by plane. We need to ensure that it continues to connect us in this digital age when the current pandemic has underlined our need for a method of physical delivery and connection.

For the 10th time, Enterprise editor Melissa Hale-Spencer was recognized among the best opinion writers in the weekly press.