Governor Kathy Hochul, on Monday, Sept. 6, said that the state’s health commissioner, Howard Zucker, has designated COVID-19 a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health under the HERO Act, requiring all employers to implement workplace safety plans.

ALBANY COUNTY — On Saturday, car seats for children will be checked for free as part of a county program at Crossgates Mall in Guilderland.

Beulah the newshound died last Wednesday. She was my daughter’s dog but we felt like she belonged to all of us.
Saranac fell in love with her Beulah the way Samuel Clemens fell in love with his Olivia — by looking at her picture. Both had enduring love stories.

The precipitous rise in COVID-19 cases, Whalen said, includes a rise in “breakthrough infections” — that is, vaccinated people getting sick with the virus. In April, breakthrough cases were very low, she said. Whalen cited rough data, which shows, of the 1,870 COVID-19 cases in Albany County between Aug. 1 and 31, eight-hundred-and-twenty-six of them were of vaccinated people. “That is a very high rate of breakthrough ...,” said Whalen. “This is a concern.”

The moratorium on evictions is in effect until Jan. 15. The new law keeps in place all protections of the Tenant Safe Harbor Act for residential tenants who are suffering financial hardship as a result of the pandemic; it also adds protections on commercial evictions.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy reported in his daily release on Wednesday morning five new hospitalizations, meaning 30 county residents are now hospitalized with the virus — a net increase of three. There are now 10 patients in intensive-care units, up from eight yesterday.

ALBANY COUNTY — As Albany County experienced its fourth COVID-19 death this week — a woman in her fifties — Governor Kathy Hochul was in Buffalo, her home turf, announcing plans for unvaccinated school staff to be tested weekly and also plans to administer booster shots through local health departments.