ALBANY — Test results came back negative from the 78 people who attended the huge rally in downtown on May 30, said County Executive Dan McCoy at his daily briefing.
“It’s a good sign, but people had their masks on,” he said on Friday. “It doesn’t mean we should go out and start mass gathering, but it was a good sign. Our numbers are good but the virus is still out there.”
Thousands of people took to Albany streets on May 30 to protest the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and while most did have masks on, there was very little social distancing going on. Similar rallies were held in municipalities across the country.
Meanwhile, a woman in her 90s with multiple underlying health issues died from Thursday to Friday brining the county’s death toll to 118. All but two were older than 60 and all but two had underlying health issues.
On Friday, there were 1,819 positive cases in Albany County with 458 under mandatory quarantine and 1,567 who tested positive and recovered. There were 11 people in the hospital for a rate .6 percent.
“We are getting questions about how if the numbers are so low, why is everything still shut down,” McCoy said. “I don’t have an answer for that. We aren’t making the rules but we have to follow them.”
He had hoped the eight-county Capital Region could begin Phase III before the predetermined Wednesday, June 17 start date but as of Friday’s briefing it did not look like that was going to happen.
Restaurants with in-house seating and personal care establishments, like nail salons and tattoo parlors, are slated to open in Phase III with social distancing and sanitization protocols in place.
McCoy did say the indoor, public sections of malls like Crossgates and Colonie Center will open in Phase III to allow small businesses without an outside entrance to open their doors.
