Coronavirus live updates: Albany County death toll up to 240 since the pandemic began – Times Union

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Albany County saw one more death and 283 new coronavirus cases overnight.

County Executive Dan McCoy said Thursday that there were also 20 more residents hospitalized, for a total of 163, a new record. Of those, 19 are in intensive care.

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Schenectady County is enlisting local organizations to help identify people 75 years and older who could be eligible to receive vaccines when a new round of inoculations begin.

"We're starting to prepare for the logistics of going into 1B," said Schenectady County Manager Rory Fluman on Thursday of the county's efforts to lay the ground work to vaccinate the next round of older people after the initial roll out of inoculations were given in skilled nursing facilities.

A letter put out by the county Department of Senior & Long Term Care Services indicated the next round could start as soon as the second week of January though Fluman said Thursday that county officials are awaiting word from the state Health Department and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office on when they can officially start to administer the vaccines.

The letter to various organizations that offer services to the elderly population asks for help identifying people in that age range who may qualify for the vaccine.

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The Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) is in talks with the University at Albany to make its pooled saliva tests available to school districts to screen students and staff for COVID-19.

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Additional updates from Wednesday

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Coronavirus live updates: Albany County death toll up to 240 since the pandemic began - Times Union