Contact: David Galin
ALBANY, NY - Thanks to the leadership and support of Governor Kathy Hochul, County Executive Daniel McCoy, and Sheriff Craig Apple, the City of Albany received more than 30,000 KN-95 Masks and approximately 3,000 At-Home COVID Test Kits on Thursday, December 23 as part of a County-wide initiative announced Thursday morning aimed at stopping the spread of COVID.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan immediately convened the City's COVID Equity Task Force to help determine the most equitable and prompt distribution of these vital and scarce resources – the same Task Force that has spent the last nine months ensuring the equitable distribution of the COVID vaccine in the City of Albany and connecting our most at-risk populations with necessary health resources.
As a result, the City of Albany ensured the distribution of more than 13,000 KN-95 Masks and nearly 2,500 At-Home COVID Test Kits to a variety of community-based organizations that serve populations susceptible to a higher risk of severe illness in less than four hours, including the Albany Housing Authority, AVillage, Black Nurses Coalition, Capital District Latinos, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Collaboratory, In Our Own Voices, Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NNORC), Radix Ecological Sustainability Center, RISSE, South End Children's Cafe, South Mall Towers, St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry, and Trinity Alliance.
In addition, more than 7,500 KN-95 Masks are being made available through the City's 15 Common Councilmembers.
To help ensure the protection of the City’s frontline workforce, the City of Albany has retained a limited number of KN-95 Masks as well as At-Home COVID Tests for use by employees during instances of possible workplace-related exposures.
The City anticipates Albany County, New York State, and the White House will make additional KN-95 Masks and At-Home COVID Tests available to our residents in the coming weeks. More information regarding future distributions of these vital resources will be provided as it becomes available.
For more information on where to locate a COVID test, please visit the Albany County Department of Health or New York State Department of Health websites.
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