Albany County breaks the hospitalization record because the virus kills another 3

“We continue to set records for the number of hospitalizations,” McCoy said. “Everyone is starting to get numb with higher numbers.”

The three dead include a 50-year-old woman, a 70-year-old woman and a 90-year-old woman.

Following the county’s report of a record 222 positive cases on Thursday and 220 on Friday, McCoy said there were 178 positive cases confirmed overnight. But that smaller number is likely a reflection of the closure of test sites due to Thursday’s severe historical storm.

Of these new cases, 22 had close contact with an infected person, five were health care workers and 151 did not have a clear source of infection.

County Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen said now was a critical time to do everything possible to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in Albany.

“What you do today will influence what happens during the holidays,” Whalen said. “We don’t want to have extra growth to the growth we have now.”

Whalen encouraged residents to consider how they can avoid large holiday gatherings, including with family, which was a “genesis of the spread.”

“The most important thing you can do is wear your mask … and avoid large crowds and large gatherings,” Whalen said. “This is essential right now to reduce the spread in our area.”

Whalen said people need to ask themselves one question as the holiday season begins: “Am I inviting someone who doesn’t live in my family’s house?”

“If the answer to that is yes, you take a risk,” Whalen said.

State update

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Saturday he signed an executive order to help certain homeowners and the restaurant industry.

According to the order, local authorities can automatically renew benefits for 2021 for all property owners who received the benefit in 2020, unless the municipality has reason to believe that the person has changed his main address, added another owner to the deed, transferred ownership to a new owner, or died. Localities can continue to offer property tax exemptions to low-income elderly people and people with disabilities who own property until 2021 by raising a personal renewal requirement that would put them at risk of infection.

The order also offers a three-month extension of the deadline for restaurants in the orange areas to transfer sales taxes to the state. The extension of the due payment of taxes due between December 21 and March 2021 is designed to ease the burden on restaurants and bars in communities where COVID-19 values ​​have imposed additional restrictions, Cuomo said. Affected restaurants should follow the instructions of the Tax Department to request an exemption.