ALBANY, N.Y. — After finishing out his NFL career, Dion Lewis has returned to his hometown of Albany and will now be employed by the county.
Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy was joined at the Wednesday morning briefing by Lewis. The Super Bowl champion was raised in Albany and has partnered with the county during the pandemic to speak directly to youth in the Teen Challenge to promote ways to stay safe and in PSA’s to encourage people to get vaccinated. Lewis played for a number of NFL teams including the New England Patriots and the New York Giants.
Lewis has been named as the County’s Community Health and Wellness Development Coordinator to assist in building trust with residents and connecting them with services Albany County offers. McCoy noted that the county restructured another job title, which has been empty for some time, and created the new position for Lewis.
“We have a great opportunity because Dion is a role model, especially with young men, and one of the lessons we learned over the last 22 months dealing with COVID is that some people can be skeptical of government,” McCoy said. “Dion’s a credible messenger and will be able to help us break through those barriers.”
“I wanted to come back and share my passion to give back to my community- to a city that has helped mold me into the man I am today,” Lewis added. “A lot has changed here since I was younger, and not all of it is good. I want to do everything I can to make a difference and to reach those people who need their faith restored. It’ll be my job to provide motivation and let the community know about all the resources the county has that they may be able to benefit from.”
McCoy also provided the latest update on the county’s progress on vaccinations and control the spread of the coronavirus as well as to introduce a new way to reach communities about County programs and services.
As of Tuesday, 75.0% of all Albany County residents have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, and 67.5% have been fully vaccinated. The first dose vaccination rate for the county’s 18+ population is now up to 84.6%.
McCoy announced that the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Albany County is now at 33,582 to date, with 115 new positive cases identified since Tuesday. The county’s five-day average of new daily positive cases is now down to 104.2. Albany County’s most recent seven-day average of percent positive rate is still 5.0% and the Capital Region’s average rate remained at 6.8%.
There are now 611 active cases in the county, up from 604 yesterday. The number of people under mandatory quarantine increased to 1,116 from 1,069. So far 104,557 people have completed quarantine to date. Of those who completed quarantine, 32,971 of them had tested positive and recovered – an increase of 103 additional recoveries.
McCoy reported that there were eight new hospitalizations since yesterday, and there are a total of 41 county residents currently hospitalized with the Coronavirus. Four of those hospital patients are in ICU’s, unchanged from Tuesday. There is one new COVID death to report – a man in his 60’s. The death toll for Albany County now stands at 440 since the outbreak began.
“It is another sad day when I report the loss of yet another Albany County resident to COVID-19 and send condolences to their families. It’s important that we remember what the situation looked like this time last year, ahead of the holiday season, because we know that it was around this time that we saw an alarming spike in infections and soon after, hospitalizations and deaths,” said County Executive McCoy.
Between Oct. 24th and Nov. 24th of last year, there were 1,756 new COVID infections, 113 new hospitalizations, and 8 new COVID deaths. As we compare that to the last month of this year, we had 2,764 new infections, 136 new hospitalizations, and 19 new COVID deaths.
“The best way to protect our residents is by getting people vaccinated, and making sure they’re able to get their boosters,” McCoy said. “To achieve that, we have worked with our partners and increased the number of clinics offered in the coming weeks.”
 
 
 
 
 
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