ALBANY COUNTY — For the last several months, Governor Kathy Hochul had quietly extended the state’s disaster emergency for COVID-19 as Republican politicians chafed. But on Monday, Hochul let the executive order, which she enacted last November to quell the Omicron surge, lapse.

The order had been in place to “ensure hospital capacity statewide,” it said, and to help municipalities and counties “administer vaccinations and tests for COVID-19.”

Hochul made no grand announcement as her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, had in June 2021when he declared the emergency over and called for lit buildings and fireworks to celebrate.

“The people of New York beat COVID,” Cuomo said.

That was, of course, before new variants caused more surges.

While the state’s disaster emergency for COVID is currently over, on Sept. 9 a disaster emergency for polio was declared.

Hochul’s executive order declares “a case of paralytic polio was identified on July 21, 2022, in an unvaccinated resident of Rockland County who had no international travel during the incubation period for polio” and also says “genetically related polioviruses have been detected in wastewater samples collected in Orange, Rockland, and Sullivan counties in April, May, June, July, and August 2022.”

Similarly, since Hochul’s July 29 executive order, the state has been under a disaster emergency for monkeypox.

“New York is now experiencing one of the highest rates of transmission in the country, with 1,383 cases reported in New York State as of July 29, 2022,” the order said.

Albany County has had four cases of monkeypox, according to the state’s health department as of Tuesday; most of the cases — 3,339 — have been in New York City.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, as of Sept. 13, New York state has had 3,679 confirmed cases of monkeypox.

The goal with the executive orders for both poliovirus and monkeypox, as stated also in the lapsed COVID order, is to help municipalities and counties test for the disease and vaccinate against it “to prevent the disease from continuing to spread.”

New booster, new mask rules

The governor received a new kind of COVID-19 booster shot last Wednesday after a press conference in which she stressed their importance and also announced that the state’s mask guidance is being changed.

“We have to restore some normalcy to our lives,” said Hochul, speaking at the Boriken Neighborhood Health Center in East Harlem.

“For the first time …,” said Mary Bassett, the state’s health commissioner, speaking at the press conference, “we have a booster tailored for the dominant variant that is circulating … We have a lot of confidence this will bring people much more protection.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the region that includes New York and New Jersey, currently 85.6 percent of COVID cases are of the Omicron subvariant BA.5 while 11.2 percent are BA.4.6,and 1.8 percent are BA.4. The proportion of BA.4.6 is the fastest-growing.

The new boosters target BA.5 and BA.4.

Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Protections have approved emergency use authorization for the messenger RNA boosters, which haven’t undergone human trials.

The Pfizer-BioNTech booster is for anyone 12 or older while the Moderna booster is for anyone 18 or older.

“It doesn’t matter how many boosters you’ve had before,” said Bassett, “if it’s been two months since your last shot, you should look into getting another booster.”

She said the boosters are being shipped out to the “quite ubiquitous” chain pharmacies. New Yorkers are also being advised to contact their regular health-care providers or county health departments for the boosters. 

New Yorkers can also visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations.

Hochul cited the latest numbers showing new infections of COVID-19 and resulting hospitalizations have “stabilized.”

She said that people who are boosted may still contract COVID “but you’ll have a less severe case, you’ll be less likely to end up in the hospital and certainly much less chance of death.”  

In Albany County, as of Tuesday, 61.7 percent of eligible residents have received booster shots, according to the state’s dashboard, while 75.2 percent have completed a vaccination series.

“Thank God there’s no shortage,” Hochul said of the new bivalent boosters. 

The original monovalent messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use as boosters for people 12 and older, according to the updated federal guidance.

Scheduled appointments to administer monovalent Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna boosters to people 12 years of age or older must be rescheduled for when locations have the bivalent COVID-19 vaccines available.

The CDC has indicated that it expects to recommend updated COVID-19 boosters for younger pediatric groups, as well. Until then, the monovalent messenger RNA Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine remains authorized for use as boosters in children ages 5 through 11 and for all primary series vaccinations.

Bassett urged people to get vaccinated against the flu as well, noting that Australia has had a difficult flu season.

“Starting today, masks will be optional,” Hochul said at Wednesday’s event, referring to their use in “shelters, correctional facilities, detention centers, and mass transit.”

“Masks are encouraged, but optional,” Hochul went on, adding, “Let’s respect each other’s choices.”

New Yorkers will continue to have to wear masks in hospitals and other health-care settings, in nursing homes and at adult-care facilities, said Bassett.

“In other settings,” Bassett said, “we urge people to pay attention to their community levels.”

The CDC labels each county in the nation as having a low, medium, or high community level of COVID-19. In counties with a high level, masks are recommended when indoors in public regardless of vaccination status.

Albany County has been labeled with a “medium” level for 11 weeks.

All of the counties in New York State, as of Tuesday, are now labeled either low or medium.

This is following a nationwide trend away from high to low levels. About 17 percent of counties are now labeled high while about 40 percent are, like Albany County, labeled medium, and about 43 percent are labeled low.

While, during the past two winters, COVID cases have surged as people returned indoors, Bassett concluded, “I’m confident we are heading into a winter where we will be able to contain COVID.”

Although figures on infection rates are no longer reliable since tracing and tracking systems have been disbanded, the state dashboard shows that Albany County, as a seven-day average, now has 16.3 cases per 100,000 of population, down from 17.0 a week ago, 17.3 two weeks ago, 17.9 three weeks ago, and from 19.3 four weeks ago and 21.8 l five weeks ago.

This compares with 18.6 cases statewide, the same as last week, down from 21.09 two weeks, 23.0 three weeks ago, 25.6 four weeks ago, and 30.03 per 100,000 of population five weeks ago.

The lowest rate is still in the Finger Lakes at 12.81 per 100,000, which is up from 11.40 last week, down from 12.42 two weeks ago, 12.09 three weeks ago, 12.65 four weeks ago, and 12.92 five weeks ago, while the highest is still on Long Island at 22.62, which is slightly up from 22.46 last week, which was down from 25.07 two weeks ago.

As of Sept. 12, according to Albany County’s COVID dashboard, 20 patients were hospitalized with the virus for a seven-day average of 15.14.

No new COVID-related Albany County deaths were reported this week, the county’s 131st of coping with the virus. The county’s dashboard continues to show 581 deaths: 231 of males and 300 of females.

Food help

All New Yorkers enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will receive the maximum allowable level of food benefits for September, Hochul announced on Tuesday.

This will result in a roughly $234 million infusion of federal funding into the New York State economy, according to a release from the governor’s office.

“Too many hardworking New Yorkers continue to feel the effects of the pandemic — struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table,” Hochul said in the release.

Households already near or at the maximum benefit level — $835 for a household of four — will receive a supplemental payment of at least $95.

SNAP households in all counties outside of New York City should see these extra benefits posted by Monday, Sept. 26.

New Yorkers continued to rely heavily on SNAP this summer, with more than 1.6 million households, including more than 2.8 million New Yorkers, throughout the state enrolled in the program in July, the governor’s office reports. While SNAP recipients statewide remained relatively flat compared to June, they were up 3 percent over July 2021, highlighting the continuing demand for these benefits.

Every federal dollar invested by SNAP generates up to $1.54 in economic activity, according to a federal study quantifying the impact of SNAP on the U.S. economy. About 14 percent of the state's population relied on SNAP benefits last year, according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities study. More than half of recipient households were families with children, and about 48 percent included an adult over the age of 55 or a person with a disability.

Career center expanded

The state’s labor department has expanded its Virtual Career Center, which uses artificial intelligence to match a job seeker’s skills and experience with vacancies.

The free platform allows users to browse more than 250,000 job postings in seconds, upload their résumés, and explore job training opportunities.

Previously, only unemployed job seekers were able to access this resource through a pilot program. Now all New Yorkers can access the center by creating or signing into an ny.govaccount.

“Technology enabled us to continue to serve customers throughout the pandemic, and the Department of Labor will continue to utilize the latest advancements to help New Yorkers achieve their career goals,” said Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon in a statement. “The Virtual Career Center is just one of many no-cost, online resources we offer to help New Yorkers make their career dreams become reality.”

Job seekers are encouraged to check out the New York State Job Bank, Part-Time Hiring Opportunities Job Bank, and NY Seasonal Jobs to browse available statewide jobs. New Yorkers can also check out our Career Center Events and Recruitments Calendar to sign up for Virtual Workshops and Virtual Career Fairs.

JobZone also provides tools to help New Yorkers plan their future, organize their job search, develop résumés and explore careers. Unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers can also learn new skills relevant to high-demand careers by enrolling in free online classes via Coursera.

All new weekly unemployment-insurance benefit claimants are automatically added and invited to the Virtual Career Center to help them use this new tool to find jobs that match their experience, knowledge, and skills.

Seed funding

 The state’s new Seed Funding Grant Program opened Sept. 14, providing flexible grants to support early stage, micro, and small businesses in a still recovering New York State economy.

The program, according to a release from the governor’s office, will ensure that small businesses that opened shortly before or during the COVID-19 pandemic will have the funds to continue to operate and grow.

“This first-in-the-nation Seed Funding Grant Program rounds out $1 billion in flexible funding to support both early-stage, and established small and micro-businesses,” said Hochul in the release.

The new program builds upon the state’s existing $800 million Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program, which has delivered more than $639 million to over 35,000 small businesses since it launched last year, the governor’s office said; 90 percent of funding went to minority and women-owned businesses.

Eligibility for the program is being expanded as the requirement that businesses show a 25-percent loss in annual gross receipts from 2019 to 2020 has been removed.

The program, which will continue to process applications currently in the pipeline, will close as funding winds down on Sept. 30.

Applicants must have started operations on or after Sept. 1, 2018 and have been operational for at least six months before an application is submitted. Applicants must have between $5,000 and $1 million in gross receipts per year as reflected on their most recent federal business tax return.  More detailed guidelines may be found here.

Project COPE

This week, the state’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports launched its “Project COPE” website, which stands for Community Overdose Prevention Education.

The goal, according to a release from the office, “is to empower people to learn how to prevent overdoses and save lives in their community.” The website can be accessed by visiting https://oasas.ny.gov/projectcope.

“Every community in New York State has been affected by the opioid and overdose epidemic,” OASAS Commissioner Chinazo Cunningham said in the release. 

The website has instructions on how to use naloxone to reverse an overdose, where to obtain low- or no-cost naloxone, and how to access treatment and other resources for addiction. There are also interactive training and educational tools for families, providers, and the general population. All information on the website is available in both English and Spanish.

Overdose rates have increased significantly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the office says, for many reasons including increased substance use, increased lethality of the illicit substance supply due to fentanyl and its analogues, increased mental health symptoms due to social isolation, and increased episodes of using alone.

Project COPE targets four high-risk and underserved populations: pregnant, parenting, and post-partum persons; survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence; members of the LBGTQ+ community; and tribal communities.

OASAS also offers various recovery-related resources online. The Recovery section of the OASAS website has information about support services, certification for recovery workers, housing services, and more.

New Yorkers struggling with an addiction can find help by calling the state’s toll-free, 24-hour, 7-day-a-week HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or by texting HOPENY (Short Code 467369).

Available addiction treatment including crisis/detox, inpatient, residential, or outpatient care can be found using the NYS OASAS Treatment Availability Dashboard at FindAddictionTreatment.ny.gov or through the NYS OASAS website.

People who have experienced insurance obstacles related to treatment or need help filing an appeal for a denied claim, contact the CHAMP helpline by phone at 888-614-5400 or email at ombuds@oasas.ny.gov.

Brain disorders caused by COVID

The coronavirus can increase long-term risks of some brain disorders, a study published recently in The Lancet Psychiatry found.

Researchers at the University of Oxford drew on health records of more than a million people worldwide, including both children and adults.

“This analysis of 2-year retrospective cohort studies of individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 showed that the increased incidence of mood and anxiety disorders was transient, with no overall excess of these diagnoses compared with other respiratory infections,” the researchers concluded. “In contrast, the increased risk of psychotic disorder, cognitive deficit, dementia, and epilepsy or seizures persisted throughout.

“The differing trajectories suggest a different pathogenesis for these outcomes. Children have a more benign overall profile of psychiatric risk than do adults and older adults, but their sustained higher risk of some diagnoses is of concern. The fact that neurological and psychiatric outcomes were similar during the delta and omicron waves indicates that the burden on the health-care system might continue even with variants that are less severe in other respects.”

Fair Market Rents

This week, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development published its annual Fair Market Rents. FMRs are an estimate of the money that would cover gross rents — rents and utility expenses — on 40 percent of the rental housing units in an area.

For Albany County, that number went up $106 or 8.78 percent.

 Nationally, according to an HUD release, FMRs will increase by an average of approximately 10 percent, enabling more households with housing vouchers to access affordable, stable housing.

“One of the reasons that housing voucher holders are unable to use those vouchers is because the value of their vouchers has not kept up with rapid rent increases,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge in the release. “These new FMRs will make it easier for voucher holders facing this challenge to access affordable housing in most housing markets while expanding the range of housing opportunities available to households.”

Due to significant interruptions in public data sources caused by COVID-19, the HUD supplemented public data with data from private sources to ensure the accuracy of the 2023 FMRs. This methodological change — which incorporated public feedback through a notice of proposed changes — is only applicable to 2023 and is meant to accurately reflect recent, steep rent increases in many communities, the release said, and will make it easier for households in those communities to use their vouchers to rent affordable homes.

FMRs, which go into effect on Oct. 1, are used in several HUD programs, including to determine the maximum amount that a Housing Choice Voucher will cover.