ALBANY COUNTY — “In general, downstate New York is doing better than upstate New York, which is a total reversal from the first phase of COVID, where it was primarily a downstate problem,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo in a Friday conference call with reporters.

Friday morning, Albany County released its latest numbers: 44 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 28 residents hospitalized with the disease.

“In fact, Albany County’s percent positive rate hit over 3.6 percent on November 3,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy in a statement, releasing the numbers. “While this may just be an outlier, we’ve also seen our own daily positives steadily rise over the last week, our hospitalization rate is still too high, and the U.S. continues to break records for new daily positive cases.”

Based on Thursday’s COVID-19 test results, all 10 regions of the state were over the targeted 1 percent of positive tests. The Capital Region was at 1.7 percent.

New York City had a rate of 1.9 percent while Western New York was at 3.3 percent and the Finger Lakes were at 3.2 percent.

Cuomo announced that some of the areas with micro-clusters, where over-sampling is done and restrictions are put in place, have been shifted.

The positivity rate in the micro-cluster areas was 3.16 percent; statewide, the positivity rate was 1.99 percent.

New York’s micro-clusters, until now, had been in Brooklyn and Queens in New York City; in Orange and Rockland counties in the Mid-Hudson region; and in Broome, Steuben, and Chemung counties near the Pennsylvania border.

Cuomo said that, over the weekend, plans will be made about how to handle micro-clusters in Western New York. Erie County has an infection rate of 3.1 percent with the highest clusters in Buffalo.

“It would be reckless from a public health point of view to open the stadium to spectators,” said Cuomo, adding, “If we get the numbers under control, I would very much look forward to watching a Bills game myself.”

As COVID-19 cases across the country and around the world are surging, Cuomo praised New Yorkers for doing relatively well with prevention but highlighted two concerns.

“Number one, we’re worried about the holiday season ... I’ve cautioned before, people should beware of small gatherings this year,” said Cuomo.

He went over the new travel requirements where, except for contiguous states, out-of-state travelers coming to New York must have a negative COVID-19 test within three days of arrival.

Cuomo said enforcement will be increased at airports and added, “You should not land if you do not have proof of a negative test upon landing.”

Cuomo’s second concern is colleges, which he said “have been highly problematic.”

He noted that all students in the state university system will be tested for COVID-19 before they go home for Thanksgiving and they won’t return to campus until February.

“I’m asking private colleges to review what SUNY did, take that action into consideration, but announce what their policy is going to be because I need to make a decision whether the state should set a policy for private colleges,” said Cuomo.

Regents exams canceled

The Board of Regents, which governs education in New York, has canceled all January Regents exams but has made no decision yet on June and August exams.

“Throughout the pandemic, our priority has been the health and wellbeing of our students and educators,” said Betty Rosa, the state’s interim education commissioner, in a statement announcing the cancellation. “We determined the January Regents Exams could not be safely, equitably, and fairly administered across the state given where the pandemic currently stands.”

The decision was praised by educators, including New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta who said, “We applaud Interim Commissioner Rosa, the Board of Regents and the State Education Department for putting students first with changes to state exam requirements that still allow them to achieve a diploma without being penalized during this pandemic.” 

Newest numbers

As of Friday morning, Albany County has 3,789 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to a release from McCoy’s office.

Of the 44 new cases, 15 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, four reported traveling out of state, 20 did not have a clear source of infection identified at this time, and five are health-care workers or residents of a congregate setting.

Currently, 1,215 county residents are under quarantine, down from 1,243.

The five-day average for new daily positives jumped to 34.4 from 29.2. There are now 224 active cases in the county, up from 205 on Thursday.

So far, 17,344 county residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 3,565 had tested positive and recovered. 

There were two new hospitalizations to report overnight, while the number of county residents currently hospitalized due to the virus decreased from 29 to 28. Two patients remain in intensive-care units. The county’s hospitalization rate has gone down to 0.73 percent from 0.77 percent.

Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 142.