A hopeful streak

Mccoy notes stretch of days without death from virus

No one has died from COVID-19 in Albany County since Thursday.

No one has died from COVID-19 in Albany County since Thursday, Albany County Executive Dan Mccoy’s office said Monday morning.

It is one of the longest stretches without a death from the virus since it first appeared in the county in midmarch.

Mccoy spoke about the virus two days before the Capital Region hits the one week mark since stay-at-home orders were relaxed with Phase 1 of the reopening of the local economy on May 20.

Some government officials and medical experts feared the Memorial Day weekend and coincidental reopening of the local economy — which began with the resumption of construction and manufacturing and the expansion of curbside retail — might prompt large gatherings and make people less observant of socialdistancing rules meant to slow the spread of the virus.

Throughout the pandemic, Mccoy has been among the most vocal of those chastising people for not adhering to social-distancing recommendations, arguing for weeks that it has increased the likelihood the virus would spread.

But on Monday, he said, he was heartened to see people were sacrificing social gatherings during the threeday weekend.

“People are keeping their distance,” Mccoy said, noting that he’d driven around the county during the weekend and saw a dearth of parties.

Mccoy said he’s felt the sacrifice in his own family: His daughter was scheduled to marry on Sunday but the ceremony has been pushed back until August. Instead, he said, the family

carried out a virtual celebration to try to keep her spirits up.

“Things change,” he said.

Overall, there have been 1,640 coronavirus cases diagnosed in the county, Mccoy said Monday. The number increased by six over the previous 24 hours.

Mccoy said 900 people are under mandatory quarantine with five under precautionary quarantine. Overall, 4,261 people have completed quarantine with 1,159 testing positive and recovering.

The county’s death toll remains at 76 and 28 people were in the hospital. The county’s hospitalization rate remains stable and within the

margins of the numbers needed to move toward the next step of reopening on June 3. County officials on Monday were unable to pinpoint the longest stretch without a death in the weeks since deaths from the virus became commonplace.

Schenectady County hit a grim milestone on Monday: A woman in her 60s becoming the 30th person killed by COVID-19 in the county. The county hit the number despite going more than two weeks without a death at the beginning of the month.

So far, the county has had 643 cases of coronavirus confirmed by a laboratory test. Currently, 127 people have the virus, county officials said Monday.

The county says 619 people have recovered

from the disease. The number includes people with lab-diagnosed cases and those who were presumed to be infected but were not tested.

In Rensselaer County, there was only one new confirmed case on Monday.

At Monday’s news conference, Mccoy was joined by Maj. Gen. Raymond Shields, the adjutant general of the state’s National Guard.

Shields took notice of the cancellations of parades and memorial services for those who died in the line of duty that are usually common place on Memorial Day.

“What does continue is our sense of duty and mission accomplishment,” he said, adding that 3,500 members of the Guard are working on the state’s response to coronavirus.