COVID-19

University of Vermont researchers have published a study that assesses varying risk factors for COVID-19 including the effectiveness of wearing masks.

At a time when most small businesses are struggling, one Albany sports apparel company is hitting its stride during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A group of Capital Region lawmakers is again pushing for an independent review of nursing home-related deaths attributed to COVID-19. 

In a collaboration devised to meet the challenges posed by the global health pandemic, the 2020 Williamstown Theatre Festival season will be the first-ever complete theatre season released by Audible, the world’s largest producer and provider of original spoken-word entertainment and audiobooks.

The 2020 WTF Season on Audible is being produced in an audio-only format safe to elevate, entertain, and transform audiences from the comfort of their homes. While this season is different, it is being made with the spirit of invention that has long been a hallmark of the Festival.

The new work looks to transport you into the world of Blanche DuBois in 1940s New Orleans, into a hotel in Thailand where Kina prepares for gender confirmation surgery, onto Tori McClure’s rowboat as she rows solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and so much more.

To tell us about it – we welcome Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director of WTF.

The Westchester County executive delivered his weekly COVID-19 briefing today. Democrat George Latimer addressed a positive case identified in a school district. He also talked about the U.S. Open golf tournament set to tee off later this week.

An emergency COVID-19 relief fund focused on Berkshire County is pausing its efforts after raising millions for the region’s most vulnerable.

As mental health issues mount during the COVID-19 pandemic, college students are among those facing lots of stress. A new initiative at SUNY New Paltz aims to outfit students with coping skills, with the help of their peers.

With coronavirus on the rise in Albany County and a spike in new cases in the college community, officials are taking steps to stave off a "second wave" of infections.

    The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond.

Today's panelists are WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee, immigration attorney and associate with the Albany law firm of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, Cianna Freeman-Tolbert, and Tetherless World Professor of Computer, Web and Cognitive Sciences at RPI and Director of the RPI-IBM Artificial Intelligence research collaboration Jim Hendler.

Some of the most hard hit folks in this pandemic are those in the arts. Theaters, concert halls, and many cultural offerings are suffering great financial hardship without an audience to attend in person. That also goes for the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

The Guthrie Center at the Old Trinity Church was founded by Arlo Guthrie to honor the legacy of his parents, Woody Guthrie and Marjorie Mazia-Guthrie. The Guthrie Center seeks to cultivate cultural preservation, promote educational achievement and foster community outreach to meet the ongoing needs of the community. However, since the pandemic began, the Guthrie Center has struggled to keep up financially.

New York Senator Charles Schumer was in Albany Tuesday mroning. Below the marquee at the Palace Theatre, the Democrat promoted bipartisan legislation that would give the crippled arts economy a lifeline during the pandemic.

On Monday, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo delivered a message to laborers in New York State. In his address Cuomo mentioned the pandemic:

A center for environmental research in New York’s Hudson Valley will be renovating its headquarters.

With so many K-12 school districts set to open after Labor Day, some county executives are trying to help figure out the childcare conundrum. Dutchess County has come up with a childcare scholarship.

With SUNY Oneonta shutting the campus down for the semester due to COVID-19, Albany area colleges have safety plans in place for the holiday weekend.

In New York, Sullivan County health officials say there have been positive COVID-19 cases associated with a pizzeria.

COVID-19 has been devastating for agriculture.

In today’s Congressional Corner, Democrat Anthony Brindisi of New York’s 22nd Congressional district continues his conversation with WAMC’s Alan Chartock. 

This interview was recorded September 2.

Churchgoers in Westchester County, New York may have been exposed to COVID-19.

Already trying to control the coronavirus pandemic, Albany County officials kicked off a "shoo the flu" initiative this week.

  Berkshire Theatre Group presents “An Intimate Performance with Brian Stokes Mitchell” on September 5 at 8 p.m. at The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Stokes is a Tony Award winning actor whose Broadway credits include “Ragtime,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Man of La Mancha,” and “Shuffle Along.” Television credits include Trapper John, MC and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Glee, Mr. Robot, Billions, and The Good Fight - among many others.

He is serving his 16th term as The Chairman of The Board of The Actors Fund and is a co-founder of the Black Theatre United Coalition.

       The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond.

Today's panelists are WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee, Berkshire Eagle Reporter Jenn Smith, and Publisher Emeritus of The Daily Freeman Ira Fusfeld.

And now, a follow-up to a story we brought you in May about professors at Bard College in Dutchess County, and others, who won a National Science Foundation grant to help develop forecasting models to better capture certain aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve now completed modelling COVID-19 spread in small colleges and how safe reopening is. WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Allison Dunne spoke with the primary investigator on the study.

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, local government officials, determined to prevent undercounts, tried to spread the word that the Census was coming. Now, Census takers have hit the streets before the September 30 deadline.

Over the weekend, the State University of New York at Oneonta became the first in the 64-campus system to shut down in-person classes for two weeks after a coronavirus outbreak. State and college officials are trying to prevent the college’s closure from becoming a trend.

The city of Albany wants to better understand how residents are experiencing the coronavirus pandemic, especially those from communities of color.

With a theme of “Safe, Smart, Ready,” SUNY Adirondack will begin its fall semester on Tuesday, Sept. 9, offering classes both remotely and in-person. Small, in-person classes will be held for those courses requiring hands-on instruction, such as nursing, culinary, art, music, science and technology. Other classes will be taught in a live remote setting or in a traditional online format.

College leadership has been working throughout the summer to implement health and safety protocols across its three sites, including mandatory COVID check-ins at site entrances, requirements for facial coverings and social distancing, one-way traffic in hallways, reduced seating capacity in classrooms and extensive sanitizing in all buildings.

SUNY Adirondack President Dr. Kristine Duffy joins us with an update.

More schools around New York say they are scaling back on plans for in person learning and expanding remote instruction. They cite Governor Andrew Cuomo’s temporary 20% cut in state aid to schools, enacted to help close a pandemic related state budget deficit. Now, the attorney who won a court case over a lack of school funding, says the cuts might be unconstitutional, and is looking into seeking an injunction against them.  

A student at SUNY New Paltz has tested positive for COVID-19.