Governor Kathy Hochul encouraged parents to use the school break this week to vaccinate their children.

Jamie Mazuryk estimates that about 90 percent of offers on homes she sold during the pandemic came in over the asking price.

Following evolving guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Governor Kathy Hochul said that she is now issuing new guidance for essential workers who have tested positive for COVID to return to work after five days — instead of the previously required 10 days — if they are “fully vaccinated and are asymptomatic or their symptoms have been resolving and they have no fever for the last 72 hours and they don’t have to be taking medication.”

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said that both the masks and the tests will be distributed to county municipalities based on population.

Jessyka and Keven Brunk are perfectly matched — both as a couple and as creators of fantasy gingerbread marvels.

“Jessyka went to school for painting and art, and so she’s always been very involved with that,” says Keven in this week’s Enterprise podcast.

None of these leaders, from the local, state, and federal levels, minimized the risks of the latest variant of concern, the highly contagious Omicron variant. On Monday, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the Omicron variant now accounts for about 70 percent of new cases in the United States. Rather, they stressed the importance of getting vaccinated and boosted as well as wearing masks.

Mark E. Glogowski, Ph.D., Hamlin, New York

Two mental-health response teams have assisted over 100 people with roughly 240 incidents as of this month, which serves both those who are experiencing mental-health crises and traditional first responders who are not always necessary to handle those types of emergency calls. 

The state is making $65 million available to counties to cover costs associated with state protocols — at least $1 million will be available to small counties and up to $2 million for larger counties, Hochul said. The money can be used for purchasing masks, or putting up signs, or setting up call centers for people to make complaints.

“We want people to reconnect with their families, so critically important emotionally, particularly for our older residents, people who’ve been suffering from isolation during most of this, we need those connections and there is a very, very, very safe way to do it … which is simply getting people boosted and continuing to wear the mask,” said Governor Kathy Hochul on Saturday.