Full Notification

Albany County’s COVID-19 dashboard reported that there were 156 new positive cases overnight in the County, which raised the County’s COVID-19 cumulative pandemic total to 65,145 positive cases.  The County’s seven-day average of new daily positive cases increased from 125.5 to 129.9 cases.  The number of County residents in the hospital due to COVID-19 symptoms decreased by six to now 24 patients, with four patients in the ICU.  The County reported four deaths since Tuesday which increased the County’s pandemic death toll to 547.  The County Executive will likely have details about these four deaths in his end of the week update tomorrow.    
 
State DOH reported that the County’s rate for one vaccine dose as of yesterday was 81.6% of the County’s total population and 89.9% of the adult population, and the County’s rate for full-vaccination was 74.4% of the total population, and for boosters was 69.2% of the eligible population.  The State’s rate for one dose was 90.0% for the total population and 95.0% of adults, and the State’s rate for full-vaccination was 76.7% for the total population, and for boosters was 58.8% of the eligible population. 
 
The State’s COVID-19 website reported that yesterday’s results for 93,758 tests Statewide were 6,794 or 7.4% positive, with the seven-day average increasing to 5.9%.  The Capital Region had 4,631 tests of which 447 or 9.5% were positive, with the seven-day average increasing to 9.4%.  The County had 1,133 tests of which 14 or 11.7% were positive, with the seven-day average increasing to 10.6%. 
 
In her press release today, the Governor Kathy Hochul reported the State’s positive rate for tests yesterday was 7.42%, hospitalizations (1,453, +49), new COVID-19 hospital admissions (267), ICU patients (168, -2), intubations (59, -7), and deaths (18).
 
The Governor warned yesterday that the State was experiencing a spike in COVID cases caused by two new subvariants of the Omicron variant.  The Governor urged “common sense” by following COVID health measures and noted that it was difficult to forecast what might happen next because of inconsistent reporting of at-home test results.  She added that both new positive cases and hospitalizations were far below highs in January, but that the State’s COVID metrics were increasing State-wide.  The Governor added that “we’re not panicking” because positive cases are far lower than the height of the Omicron surge and that “we’re not expecting that to happen here.  But on the other hand, we don’t know.” 
 
In its most recently released Cannabis Conversations, the Office of Cannabis Management announced that it was expecting to issue licenses for cannabis dispensaries by the end of the year.  The expected number of issued licenses is between 100 and 200, which means that there may be only one cannabis dispensary in the Town of Guilderland. 
 
The Albany Pine Bush Preserve will conduct a prescribed burn near the intersection of Willow Street and Tera Court tomorrow at 10am and will conclude by nightfall.  The trailheads at this location will be closed through Saturday.  These controlled fires serve an important role by mimicking the ecological benefits of naturally incurring fires that are essential to the health of inland pine barrens communities in the Preserve.  If you have any questions about prescribed fires, please contact the Preserve’s Fire Manager Tyler Briggs at [email protected].  You can sign-up for notifications, by phone or email, of prescribed fires that occur in the Preserve.
 
Tomorrow afternoon at 1pm, the Preserve is kicking off its Earth Day celebration with a 1.7 mile walk through pine barrens and nearby dunes, with special flora and fauna beginning to emerge.  The hike is an excellent introduction into what is offered in the Preserve and why its continued preservation is of vital importance to our community.  Registration is required online or by calling the Preserve at (518) 456-0655.
 
Thank you for staying safe and calm.

Peter G. Barber
Town Supervisor