Full Notification

Albany County’s COVID-19 Dashboard reported that there were 88 new positive cases overnight in the County, which raised the County’s COVID-19 cumulative pandemic total to 74,508 positive cases.  The County’s seven-day average of new daily positive cases increased from 60.2 to 62.6 cases.  The number of County residents in the hospital overnight with COVID-19 decreased by two to now 25 patients, with four patients in the ICU.  The County’s cumulative pandemic death toll remained at 569.
 
In a press release today, Governor Hochul reported the State’s positive rate for tests yesterday (7.79%), and the current numbers for COVID-19 hospitalizations (2,047, +44), new hospital admissions (387), ICU patients (186, +10), intubations (73, +1), and 13 deaths.   
 
The State’s COVID-19 website reported that yesterday’s results for 72,050 tests Statewide were 5,818 or 7.8% positive, with the seven-day average increasing to 5.2%.  The Capital Region had 1,724 tests of which 143 or 9.3% were positive, with the seven-day average increasing to 7.3%.  The County had 477 tests of which 39 or 9.6% were positive, with the seven-day average increasing to 9.0%.

The CDC confirmed this morning that two Omicron subvariants, known as BA.4 and BA.5, now combine as a majority of new positive COVID cases.  While there are reports that these subvariants can sometimes evade antibodies created by vaccinations or prior infections, there is no indication that they are causing more severe infections for vaccinated persons.  Yesterday, the FDA’s Advisory Committee voted to recommend a revised booster vaccine that would focus on Omicron and its subvariants. 

I am very pleased to report that with the school year ended, and activities at schools relatively quiet, the sidewalk projects serving three elementary schools are scheduled for construction this summer.  The long-anticipated construction of the new sidewalk on the south side of Western Avenue from Devonshire Drive to the Guilderland Library and Guilderland Elementary School will start in mid-July, and given continuing supply issues, may not be substantially completed until late August.

The construction of the new sidewalk on West Old State Road from Carman Road to Lynnwood Elementary School will start on July 5, with a substantial completion by July 29.  Earlier this week, Governor Hochul announced that the Town was awarded a $910,466 grant to extend this sidewalk on East Old State Road from Carman Road to Hill View Drive.  This new sidewalk will allow residents in neighborhoods the option of walking to local businesses on Carman Road and to Lynnwood Elementary.  

The final sidewalk will serve Pine Bush Elementary School, and is part of DOT’s replacement of the traffic light at Carman Road and Lydius Street with a roundabout.  DOT’s contractor will likely complete the second roundabout at Carman Road and I-890 by August, and will then start construction of the Lydius Street roundabout.  In addition to paving Carman Road from the roundabout to Coons Road, the contractor will also use funds secured by Assemblyperson Pat Fahy to complete the sidewalk from Lydius Street to Coons Road.  

Please note that there will be periodic lane closures for these sidewalk projects, particularly when cement trucks are onsite.  We will post any updates online and via Nixle.  You can sign-up for free Nixle updates (text and/or email) here.

The Parks & Recreation Department is hosting another session of the very popular Bird Walk at the Community Gardens.  This fourth session will take place on Wednesday mornings from 7:30am to 9am starting on July 7 to August 3, with no outing on July 16.  The program includes a guided walk by a trained bird counter in the Town’s Community Gardens, opposite the Winter Recreation Area on State Route 146.  It is easy to register for this session online.   My wife and I greatly enjoyed the third session.  Even if you don’t attend the session, please take a look at Merlin, a free app from Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology, that identifies birds by using a database of hundreds of millions of bird recordings. 
            
Thank you for staying safe and calm.    
 
Peter G. Barber
Town Supervisor