ALBANY COUNTY — This week, the county’s 72nd of coping with the coronavirus, the lull that had come in early July with declining infection rates, was shattered as cases across the nation and here in Albany County continued to increase.

Governments this week started announcing they would require vaccination, and at the same time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its May guidance on masks, stating that, because of the Delta variant, people living in an area of substantial or high transmission should mask indoors in public.

This applies to people who are vaccinated, not just those who are unvaccinated. Formerly, only unvaccinated people were to mask.

The CDC further advises that everyone in schools, both students and staff, wear masks whether or not they are vaccinated.

Data has shown that vaccinated people can spread the virus even if they are not sickened by it.

The Delta variant, which was first identified in India last October, is highly contagious and now makes up the majority of COVID-19 cases in the United States.

On Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that patient-facing health-care workers at state-run hospitals must be vaccinated by Labor Day — with no option to be tested instead.

This follows advice offered earlier in the week in a statement released by scores of health-care organizations.

Citing the recent COVID-19 surge due to “highly contagious variants,” and the “availability of safe and effective vaccines,” the statement said, “We call for all health-care and long-term care employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.”

On Wednesday, Cuomo also announced that all state workers — about 130,000 people — must be vaccinated by Labor Day. State workers who do not get vaccinated must be tested weekly for COVID-19.

Cuomo’s Wednesday announcement followed a slew of similar announcements earlier in the week.

On Monday, New York City announced it will require all municipal workers — from police to teachers — to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-September or to submit weekly negative test results. And California on Monday became the first state to announce it will require all state workers and health-care workers to be vaccinated or to be regularly tested for COVID-19.

And, in the next two months, the Department of Veterans Affairs said on Monday, it is requiring its frontline health-care workers to be vaccinated, the first federal agency to do so.

Speaking at an event at Yankee stadium in the Bronx, Cuomo said on Monday that, while 75 percent of adult New Yorkers had received at least one shot, that still leaves 25 percent unvaccinated.

“And 25 percent may be a relatively small number, but it is a lot of people: 3.5 million unvaccinated people,” said Cuomo.

He also said, referencing the upsurge in infections across the state, “Numbers don’t lie.” Last month, he said, the daily count for new infections was 346 while there were 1,900 new positive test results yesterday.

Cuomo said on Monday that 72 percent of the new positive test results are linked to the Delta variant of the virus. He also said, “Only 0.15 vaccinated New Yorkers have been infected by the COVID Delta variant …. The vaccines work, they work and it’s proven in the numbers. Those who are vaccinated reduce the risk of hospitalization by 94 percent.”

Because the demand for vaccination has decreased, the state is closing many of its mass clinics, Cuomo said. The Guilderland site at Crossgates Mall is still open.

Cuomo said of the newly allocated $15 million, “Only about 6.7 percent of the state has new positive cases above the average and the vaccination rate below the state average. So we’re focusing on those 117 ZIP codes. In New York City, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn. Tends to be communities of color, tends to be poorer communities, tends to be communities with less access to healthcare. And over 61 percent of those ZIP codes in the state are in New York City.”

The funds are being distributed this way: $5.5 million to the Hispanic Federation, $5.5 million to the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, $1 million to the New York Immigration Coalition, $1 million  to the Asian American Federation, $1 Million to the Charles B. Wang Community Center, and $1 million to the APICHA (Asian/Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS) Community Health Center.

Outside of New York City and Long Island, 25 ZIP codes are targeted, including one in Albany County — 12158 in Selkirk — and two in Greene County: 12083 in South Westerlo and 12058 in Earlton.

In Albany County, many of the ZIP codes where residents have the lowest rate of vaccination are in rural areas. The very lowest is the 12222 ZIP in Albany, with a rate of 7.8 percent for people with at least one vaccine dose. The second lowest ZIP in the county is 12046, Coeymans Hollow, with a vaccination rate of 30.5 percent.

South Bethlehem (12161) is third lowest at 42.4 percent and Medusa (12120) in Westerlo is fourth lowest at 42.6 percent.

Albany’s 12211 ZIP code has the highest rate of vaccination at 86.8 percent while the next four highest are all suburban: Slingerlands (12159) at 85.2 percent; Delmar (12054) at 81.9 percent; Voorheesville (12186) at 77.4 percent; and Guilderland Center (12085) at 75.5 percent.

“We need a different approach,” said Cuomo of vaccinating the 25 percent of New Yorkers who remain unvaccinated. “And the approach has to be community-based organizations who can have conversations in the community. With people who know them, who culturally know them, who know their issues and their fears. And it almost has to be a one-on-one conversation with that 25 percent, because it's not going to be a top-down message.”

Albany County continues to have pop-up neighborhood clinics and also continues to deliver vaccines to homebound residents, which includes seniors, people with disabilities, and those lacking child care. Anyone who would like to schedule a time for a vaccine appointment should call 518-447-7198.

Albany County residents can also receive free Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., each week at the county’s health department at 175 Green Street. No appointments are needed and walk-ins are welcome.

Cuomo concluded his remarks on Monday, saying, “We cannot go through what we went through over the past year. We can’t. We can’t, I can’t, the economy can’t, society can’t — we can’t go through it again ….

“I am telling you as I sit here today, if we do not make progress on vaccinating that unvaccinated population, 25 percent, with the Delta variant, you’re going to see the numbers go up. That is a large number and we’re going to lose lives and it will be disruptive and we cannot let that happen …. Yes. The numbers are going up. Do something about it. Do something about it.”

On Wednesday, Cuomo stressed those same themes and said, “President Biden is reported that he's going to announce soon that all federal employees must be vaccinated or get tested. New York State is doing the same and we’re working with our unions to implement this quickly and fairly, but we want to get it done by Labor Day, and I encourage all local governments to do the same.”

If infection numbers continue to go up, Cuomo said school districts in affected areas “should strongly consider taking a more aggressive action.

“I also encourage the FDA to issue final approval of the vaccine,” Cuomo said. The Food and Drug Administration has given only emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

“Under emergency use authorization, states are limited as to what they can mandate,” said Cuomo. “Once the vaccine is finally approved, then the state has more legal authority to mandate the vaccine.”

Rental help

Also this week, many tenants are dreading Saturday when the moratorium on evictions expires. 

In December, Congress had allocated $24 billion to help renters who fell behind in payments during the pandemic; another $21 bullion was added in March but the roll-out, including in New York State, has been slow.

In Albany County, 15 percent of tenants are behind on rent with the average rent owed of $3,303, according to a New York Times analysis.

The Albany County Department of Social Services continues to host informational sessions to educate residents, check their eligibility, and help them sign up for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

The federally funded program is for renters who have experienced financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding will be available to New Yorkers for up to one year of back rent, three months of future rental assistance and up to one year of owed utility payments.

All allocations will be sent directly to landlords or property owners on behalf of the tenants. There are no immigration status requirements to qualify for the program. Households eligible for rental arrears may also be eligible for help paying utility arrears at the same rental unit.

An informational session is scheduled for the Hilltowns on Monday, Agu. 2, at 2:30 p.m. at the Berne-Knox-Westerlo school at 1738 Helderberg Trail in Berne.

Masks

The new CDC guidance says, “Wearing a mask is most important if you have a weakened immune system or if, because of your age or an underlying medical condition, you are at increased risk for severe disease, or if someone in your household has a weakened immune system, is at increased risk for severe disease, or is unvaccinated. If this applies to you or your household, you might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission in your area.”

A CDC map shows most of New York State in yellow, meaning transmission is moderate; a few areas — largely in the North Country or Western New York — are blue, meaning transmission is low.

One area, which looks to be Greene County, bordering Albany County, is orange, as are Long Island and New York City, meaning transmission is substantial.

Albany County is colored yellow on the map, meaning transmission is moderate, so, if New Yormk State were to adhere to CDC guidance, masks would not be required.

The southern states are predominantly red — meaning transmission is high — as are Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.

The CDC says that 46 percent of the counties in the United States — 1,495 counties — have a high transmission rate as of Tuesday evening. Seventeen percent — 548 counties — have substantial transmission while 27 percent — 876 counties — have moderate transmission and 9 percent — 300 counties — have low transmission.

On Tuesday evening, Cuomo released a statement, saying, “New Yorkers beat back COVID before — going from the highest positivity rate on the globe to one of the lowest — by staying smart, following the science, and having each other’s backs, and that's exactly what we’ll keep doing in this next phase of the pandemic. We are reviewing the CDC’s new recommendations closely in consultation with federal and state health experts.”

Earlier in the day, Cuomo had announced the selection of five laboratories to bolster state efforts in identifying COVID-19 variants. The state’s health department is partnering with the laboratories to expand the genetic sequencing of specimens positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

As part of the CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases Enhancing Detection Expansion supplement, the Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center received approval to use $20 million to establish a sequencing partnership with laboratories at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Cornell University, University at Buffalo, University of Rochester Medical Center, and New York Medical College.

The effort aims to greatly expand genetic sequencing on SARS-CoV-2 positive specimens derived from the general population of New York State outside of New York City, building on genome/variant surveillance efforts and characterization of the transmission and spread of SARS-CoV-2 across the state.

On Wednesday, Cuomo said, “The state is going to do a full review of the CDC guidance.”

He said of areas the CDC has designated as having substantial or high transmission, “Local governments in those areas should seriously consider the CDC guidance and the basic guidance comes down to what we know. Get the vaccine and the precautions are important, especially important for elderly and immunocompromised people. Take the mask precaution. It’s not the hardest thing to do in the world.”

Sales tax surges

On Friday, the state’s comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, issued a report stating, “Local sales tax collections in New York State grew by 49.2 percent, or just over $1.6 billion, in the second calendar quarter (April-June) of 2021 compared to the same quarter last year.”

The quarterly performance surpassed pre-pandemic levels for most regions.

Statewide, local collections in the second quarter of 2021 were up 8.7 percent, or $396 million, above the same quarter in 2019 — before the pandemic. More dramatically, every region outside of New York City experienced two-year growth of over 18 percent.

“The impressive second quarter performance for nearly every region may reflect a combination of pent-up consumer demand generally, along with purchases tied to recent spikes in new home sales,” the report said.

In April through June of 2021, national retail and food-service sales increased by 21 percent compared to the same period in 2019. Some of the industries where sales grew fastest include sporting goods and hobby stores (40 percent), motor vehicles and part dealers (33 percent), and building materials and garden equipment (33 percent.)

The report showed that Albany County collected $54.9 million in sales tax for the second quarter of 2021 compared to $82.0 million for the same quarter this year — an increase of nearly 50 percent.

“New York State could have seen steeper declines in sales tax collections, and a slower recovery, if not for two major recent changes that required many out-of-state vendors to collect and remit State and local sales taxes,” the report said.

Highest rate

The Capital Region continues to have the highest infection rate of the state’s 10 regions, which was at 2.61 percent as of Monday as a seven-day rolling average. Statewide, the infection rate was 1.97 percent.

Albany County’s infection rate was 2.6 percent as of Monday, as a seven-day rolling average, according to the state’s dashboard.

After several weeks of new daily infections in the single digits, Albany County in the last two weeks has, like the rest of the nation, experienced an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

The county’s executive, Daniel McCoy, reported in a release on Wednesday morning 24 new cases, bringing the county’s tally to 24,645. Ten of the new cases had close contact with someone infected with the disease, four had traveled out of state, and 10 did not have a clear source of infection identified.

There are now 106 active cases in the county, up from 92 on Tuesday and 83 on Monday. The number of Albany County residents under mandatory quarantine is now up to 180 from 145.

McCoy also reported two new hospitalizations since Tuesday, and eight county residents are now hospitalized.

“Our infection rates continue to increase here in Albany County and across New York, with a growing number of active cases and residents quarantined, returning to levels we haven’t seen since the end of May. We’re also seeing our hospitalization numbers ticking back up,” said McCoy in a statement on Tuesday.

He went on, “However, there is some good news — more than 99 percent of new infections in New York are those who haven’t been vaccinated yet, so we know getting infected and getting sick are preventable. This should be a wake-up call to everyone who hasn’t gotten the shot yet.”

According to the state’s vaccine tracker, 66.4 percent of Albany’s County’s 307,117 residents have received at least one dose of vaccine while 77.1 percent of county residents 18 and older have.

Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 388.