Albany County Executive Dan McCoy is warning if COVID-19 numbers continue to increase, the Democrat will again impose mandates. McCoy said Wednesday he will not advocate for shutdowns, but is willing to impose a mask mandate as soon as next week if cases continue to climb.
"I don’t want to go back, but I will if I have no choice. I’m not going back to that January of this year where we had 89 people pass away. So, I will assure you, I will do the most unpopular things because at the end of the day, I have to sleep and my main job – as well as (Albany County Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen’s) – is taking care of the safety and health of the residents. We will go down that road and make as many hard restrictions that we have to if those numbers continue to trend," the Democrat said.
McCoy says there were more than 2,700 cases in October in Albany County – compared to more than 1,700 last October. Last Thursday, there were about 200 new cases confirmed in a 24-hour period – the highest since January 2021.
McCoy is urging vaccinations saying most recent COVID-19 deaths have been those who haven’t gotten the shots.
"So, again, I’m not trying to make this against unvaccinated people, but if we want to get out of this, we need to roll up our sleeves, get the vaccine, so we can move forward," he said.
About 75 percent of Albany County residents are at least partially vaccinated.
