On Friday, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reversed its controversial guidance on COVID-19 testing.

In the first week of September, Albany County saw an increase of over 500 percent, compared to the same week last year, of residents needing help to buy food, leading the county executive to call for federal support.

The state’s largest teachers’ union is suing the state over withheld aid to schools.

Speaking to young adults, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said on Tuesday, “You’re spreading it to people that can end up in the hospital or worst-case scenario, end up passing away.”

Of the 24 new positive COVID-19 cases reported Sunday morning in Albany County, 16 are connected to the University at Albany. 

New York State announced a record-high number of test results as Albany County reported 28 new cases and its 134th death on Saturday.

Government programs were announced this week to help small-business owners, manufacturers, child-care centers, farmers, and workers who lost wages — all due to the pandemic.

The spike of COVID-19 cases at UAlbany can be traced back to athletes and to off-campus housing in the Pine Hills neighborhood of Albany, said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy.

“The focal issue for the legislature is we don’t want to become the dumping ground for New York State or for the Northeast,” says William Reinhardt, who chairs the county legislature’s Conservation, Sustainability and Green Initiatives Committee and who sponsored the Clean air Act.

With no federal bail-out on the horizon Wednesday, local Assembly members and the state’s largest teachers’ union called for New York to raise taxes on the wealthy to help poor school districts hurt by aid cuts in the wake of the pandemic.