Albany County is approaching a rough milestone: Almost 1,000 new positive COVID-19 cases have been reported since the start of November.

County Executive Dan McCoy said Monday that 68 new cases were reported in the last day, bringing Albany County’s total to 947 new positive cases since Nov. 1. Of those 68 new cases, 42 have no clear source of infection.

“We used to go crazy over 10 or 12 cases, and when we have 60 and that feels normal, that’s a problem,” McCoy said.

Saturday, the county had its highest-ever one-day total for new cases with 147. That surpassed the previous high of 99 cases from earlier in the week.

“Our percent positive rates are, very much, too high,” McCoy said.

Hospitalizations remain steady, with 37 hospitalized in Albany County. There are nine people in intensive care, which is one more than Sunday.

The county is partnering with several schools and Whitney Young Health to perform rapid testing for students.

"This is going to help with regard to identifying our students and families and making sure that our students who are symptomatic are able to be tested," said Albany City Schools Superintendent Kaweeda Adams.

Adams says students who are symptomatic are isolated, then parents are contacted and the kids are typically taken home. From there, school nurses coordinate the testing with Whitney Young. 

"They [the nurses] are ready and willing and able to assist with what we need to do for our students," Adams said.

McCoy and County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen say the mobile testing sites at Albany High and the Cornell Cooperative Extension School in Voorheesville can accommodate rapid testing of eight students each hour, with results coming back in about 15 minutes. If a student tests negative, they'll also get a PCR test and isolate while awaiting the results. If the rapid test comes positive the student will quarantine for 14 days.

"We know that rapid tests are reliable for positives and not so much for negatives," Whalen said.

"The students have to do it both ways especially if they have signs and symptoms... under the executive order that's what they have to if they want to continue," McCoy said. "But it helps us if they get the rapid test and it comes back negative, it's less investigation work with all the other students in the class until the other test comes back within hopefully three days."

Adams says it's an important step to try to prevent and slow the spread of the virus in schools.

"It's a proactive measure that I think is really on the right track so that as we move into not just the flu season, but we've seen that uptick in our numbers, and I think it's everyone working together to see what we can do," Adams said.

While these rapid testing sites are specifically for students, there are several other testing sites throughout the Capital Region. To help people locate them, McCoy and Whalen also announced a new map on the Albany County COVID-19 website with information on rapid testing sites,​ which can be narrowed down by neighborhood, type of test and even average wait time. Between those testing sites, where both students and adults can be tested.