ALBANY — Albany County Executive Dan McCoy told reporters Monday he has antibodies from a bout of COVID-19 that he believes he contracted around the beginning of the year.
Coronavirus was first detected in the U.S. in January, but was not widely tested in people until the pandemic exploded in March.
McCoy said he got an antibody test in May which revealed he had previously contracted the virus. Studies indicate coronavirus antibodies appear to diminish as time goes on. The county executive’s office said a doctor who spoke to McCoy about the test results estimated the level of antibodies in his system suggested he had the virus in December, January or February.
The county executive had not previously disclosed the results of the test and his office could not explain why.
If he was sickened at the end of 2019 or during the early months of 2020, McCoy would be among the earliest known in the U.S. to have gotten the virus without traveling outside of the country.
“They put the timetable down before it even broke here, before we even knew about it,” he said.
The Albany County executive is one of the few local officials in upstate New York to identify as having COVID-19. Buffalo’s common council president tested positive back in March, but most other known cases have been among state legislators and New York City council people.
McCoy, who during months of news briefings on the virus became a face of the region’s battle against the virus, has been tested several times for COVID-19 since the pandemic hit the U.S. in February. None of those tests have come back positive, his staff said.
The county executive’s office said McCoy traveled to Washington D.C. in early December for a meeting of the County Executives of America and visited Texas in February for National Guard duty. He went to Maryland later that month for another meeting of the County Executives of America.
McCoy believes he had coronavirus symptoms in December.
“It was scary because I didn’t know what I was dealing with at the time but I knew I was really sick,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I can’t get it again. It just means I had it once and got through it. So I am cautious.”
McCoy, who has never publicly spoken about the results of the antibody test, has asthma and is conscientious about not exposing himself to the virus. In recent months, he said he’s been criticized for being an ardent deliverer of the message that people should wear masks and social distance in public.
His office could not say why McCoy did not reveal the antibody tests result earlier.
The earliest known death of an American infected with coronavirus who did not travel outside of the country occurred on Feb. 6, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The Santa Clara County, Calif., woman died after becoming ill on Jan. 31. Her death was followed by the unrelated death of another man who died at home between Feb. 13 and Feb. 17.
For months, scientists have been trying to determine when the virus arrived in the U.S. A June report published by the Center for Disease Control estimated that the disease could have started spreading in the U.S. in mid-January.
On Monday McCoy also addressed hostility and criticism he has been getting from county residents for his advocacy for social distancing and the need to use face masks.
“When you put your head on the pillow at the end of the day, you hope every decision you made was a decision that didn’t cost someone their life,” he said.
Meanwhile, Albany County sought to reassure the public that Shaker High School has been sanitized after a school employee tested positive for COVID-19.
The school in Colonie was closed Monday for cleaning. McCoy said the county learned of the employee’s positive COVID-19 case Sunday.
“It was out of an abundance of caution that the school was closed today,” said Elizabeth Whalen, county health department commissioner. “This has been a matter that has been comprehensively addressed by the school district and health department.”
All individuals who were in contact with the employee have been contacted, Whalen said.
McCoy acknowledged that parents may feel uncomfortable sending their children to school come the fall, and said that remote learning is still an option for those parents.
Overall, the county saw nine new coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the total to 2,304. Three of the new cases are health care workers, two traveled out of state, and another individual was linked to the Fourth of July party on Albany’s Hudson Avenue. The total number of attendees of that party , or people connected to those people, who ultimately contracted COVID-19 is now 47.
The Albany County hospitalization rate has decreased to 0.4 percent, with one COVID-19 patient in the hospital.
“We listen to the governor for guidance every day, and the CDC,” McCoy said. “Right now it’s still out there in the community.”
Both McCoy and Whalen addressed issues of compliance with regulations that would prevent the spread of COVID-19. Whalen said she and her staff have been getting considerable pushback from people they contact to direct a quarantine.
“If you decide that you are going to hang up on my staff, that you are going to be difficult, the next step will be to have law enforcement at your door so please take this seriously,” Whalen said. “This is becoming an increasingly difficult situation for our staff to work with.”