Full Notification

Albany County’s COVID-19 Dashboard reported today that that there were 109 new positive cases overnight in the County, which raised the County’s COVID-19 cumulative pandemic total to 72,976 positive cases.  The County’s seven-day average of new daily positive cases decreased from 104.4 to 102.8 cases.  The number of County residents in the hospital overnight due to COVID-19 symptoms declined by one to now 33 patients, with three patients in the ICU.  The County’s pandemic death toll remained at 563 residents. 
 
State DOH reported that the County’s rate for one vaccine dose as of yesterday was 81.5% of the County’s total population and 92.0% of the adult population, and the County’s rate for full-vaccination was 74.5% of the total population, and for boosters was 63.9% of the eligible population.  The State’s rate for one dose was 90.7% for the total population and 95.0% of adults, and the State’s rate for full-vaccination was 77.5% for the total population, and for boosters was 55.5% of the eligible population.
 
The State’s COVID-19 website reported that yesterday’s results for 112,154 tests Statewide were 6,839 or 6.1% positive, with the seven-day average remaining at 6.5%.  The Capital Region had 4,105 tests of which 357 or 8.9% were positive, with the seven-day average decreasing to 8.5%.  The County had 994 tests of which 88 or 8.2% were positive, with the seven-day average decreasing to 9.1%. 
 
The State’s other data included the State’s positive rate for tests yesterday (6.09%), and the current numbers for COVID-19 hospitalizations (2,218, -104), new hospital admissions (377), ICU patients (222, +1), intubations (88, +3), and 21 deaths.
 
State DOH’s data on breakthrough cases continues to show the remarkable success of a full COVID-19 vaccination in keeping persons out of the hospital.  As of May 30, State DOH is aware of 1,496,566 laboratory-confirmed breakthrough cases of COVID-19 among fully-vaccinated people or 11.2% of the population of fully-vaccinated people 12-years or older.  There have been 53,430 hospitalizations with COVID-19 among fully-vaccinated people in the State, which is just 0.4% of the population of fully-vaccinated people 12-years or older.  State DOH’s data also found that fully-vaccinated people had between an 85.1% and 95.9% lower chance of being hospitalized with COVID-19, when compared to unvaccinated people.
 
The Parks & Rec Department is hosting another session of the very popular Bird Walk at the Community Gardens.  Unlike other sessions, this session will take place on Wednesday mornings from 8am to 9:30 am starting on June 8 through June 29.  The program includes a guided walk by a trained bird counter in the Town’s Community Gardens to view birds in various habitats.  The tracking involves use of Ebird, an easy to use application designed by Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology to identify birds and report siting locations.  Community Gardens is located opposite the Winter Recreation Area on State Route 146.  It is easy to register for this session online.
 
You also might enjoy downloading Merlin, another free app by Cornell University, that identifies birds by sound or photo.  It is a fun way to learn about the birds that live in your backyard.  It uses a database of hundreds of millions of bird recordings to match, in real-time, recordings on your phone.  I thank Jerry Houser, Community Gardens Coordinator, for this wonderful suggestion.   
 
I hope that you are making the best of this near-perfect weather weekend.
 
Thank you for staying safe and calm.    
 
Peter G. Barber
Town Supervisor