Albany County, Stewart’s team up to give out at-home COVID tests

Albany County is averaging about 1,000 new coronavirus cases a day.

The county reported 1,115 cases in its Monday update. That’s the third day in a row with more than 1,000 new cases.

County Executive Dan McCoy is urging people to get vaccinated and get tested.

The county teamed up with Stewart’s to give out at-home test kits on Monday.

The Stewart’s Shop on Route 9W in Selkirk was one of several Stewart’s Shops in Albany County that were giving out the free testing kits.

At that store, it began at 2:00, and within the hour, all 180 rapid kits were gone rapidly.

Handing out the little boxes was part of Albany County’s approach to respond to what officials are calling an "alarming and unprecedented" surge of COVID infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

You might be wondering what to do if you test positive. If you do, you need to contact the health department. You need to provide a phone number, home address, and an email address. You need to include the test date and the date the COVID-19 symptoms began. You will then be provided with instructions for quarantine guidelines as well as COVID-19 resources.

Hear why some people waiting for the tests on Monday said they were so important for them to get, by watching the video of Dan Levy’s story.