Capital Region residents who went to any of three local eateries last week are being advised to monitor for COVID-19 symptoms after employees there tested positive for coronavirus.
Saratoga County health officials said Friday that recent visitors to the Saratoga 5 Points Market & Deli in Saratoga Springs and Halfmoon Burger King may have been exposed. The risk of exposure would have been low, they said, as the infected employees wore masks for the entirety of their shifts.
Schenectady County also issued an alert regarding Frog Alley Brewing in Schenectady. A person diagnosed with COVID-19 visited the brewery for about three hours the night of July 31, they said.
It was unclear if the infected person was aware of their infection the night they went out or if they wore a mask. The county declined to comment, but said the brewery has followed all county health department guidance and is cooperating with its investigation.
Here are dates and times of the potential exposures:
Saratoga 5 Points Market and Deli
10 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday, July 29
10 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Thursday July 30
9 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Friday, July 31
Halfmoon Burger King
4:30-9 p.m. Wednesday, July 29
5:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday, July 30
4-8 p.m. Friday, July 31
Frog Alley Brewing
9 p.m.-midnight Friday, July 31
Anyone who visited these locations at the times listed should monitor themselves for signs or symptoms of COVID-19, which can include fever, chills, cough, difficulty breathing, fatigue, body aches, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion and runny nose.
If symptoms develop, the person should stay home and contact their local county health department and primary care doctor, officials said.
New virus cases
The eight-county Capital Region recorded 28 new cases of the virus Friday, up five from the day before.
The five-day rolling average of new daily cases is now 32 — up from 29 the day before but down from last month's high of 52.
While July saw several spikes in new cases that local officials attributed to large gatherings, Fourth of July parties and travel, new cases appear to be trending downward again. The percentage of people in the region testing positive was 0.9 percent on Tuesday, 0.8 percent on Wednesday and 0.7 percent on Thursday.
In Albany County, officials said five of their 11 new cases Friday stemmed from people who had close contact with an infected person, four had no clear source of transmission, and one was a health care worker.
Meanwhile, the number of area residents with active coronavirus infections fell by four Friday to 261. Thirty were hospitalized.
Statewide, there were 70,000 COVID-19 tests conducted across the state Thursday, with the infection rate hovering at 1 percent, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said. Numbers have remained flat across the state while other states nationwide have seen surges in cases. Five New Yorkers died from the disease Thursday, 579 were hospitalized with 139 people in the ICU and 66 people intubated.
"That is all great news, especially when you're considering what's going on around us. Not only across the country, but even in our region, our performance is extraordinary in this sea of spread," Cuomo said. "Our numbers are great because we are doing what we need to do."
The governor again stressed the need for local governments to step up to enforce the restrictions in place – like wearing face masks and limiting capacity at various business establishments. State Police along with the State Liquor Authority have been citing businesses for non-compliance and issued 15 violations to downstate establishments Thursday.
Help for the homeless
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy invited Michele McClave, the county's Department of Social Services commissioner, and Liz Hitt, executive director of the Albany-based Homeless and Travelers Aid Society, to join him at his coronavirus briefing Friday.
To date, county DSS has worked with area motels to isolate 64 homeless people who were either infected with the virus or exposed to someone who was, McCoy said.
"You can imagine it's like a ripple effect in the homeless community when people aren't socially distancing and wearing masks and they're sharing alcohol together or drinking out of the same bottle or sharing drugs," he said. "It was something we really had to address and get really deep into to make sure that we stopped the spread to the best of our ability."
McClave and Hitt noted that homeless people are at particularly high risk for complications from COVID-19 because they typically fall into older age groups and have pre-existing health conditions, such as diabetes, heart issues, and drug and alcohol addiction.
"Housing is health care," Hitt said. "If you don't have some place to live how do you social distance? How do you isolate? How do you wash your hands?"
The county's homeless shelters adopted federal guidelines designed to reduce the spread of infection, including daily deep cleaning and temperature checks, box meals instead of group meals, and requiring staff and clients to wear masks while inside.
While the state's moratorium on evictions during the pandemic led to a drop in the number of homeless families, McClave said she is worried about what will happen when the moratorium runs out.
"There's a lot of people I know in the queue for evictions and it's very concerning to the community about the number of people who are going to need assistance when that happens," she said.
Amanda Fries contributed reporting.
bbump@timesunion.com • 518-454-5387 • @bethanybump
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