In a statement released Monday afternoon, the Albany Common Council announced that it wanted all people attending meetings to wear masks.

The council cited guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for its request.

"The CDC recently shifted the COVID-19 threat level in Albany County to orange (substantial). With this threat level, it is recommended that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wears a mask indoors. While Albany County is at orange level, the Common Council requests that everyone wears a mask in chambers and endeavors to social distance."

Earlier in the day, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that re-imposing mask-wearing requirements remained a local-level decision, though he urged officials to strongly consider taking steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 amid a resurgence of the virus.

The Albany Common Council's brief statement stated that "because the executive order waiving Open Meetings Law provisions was ended by Governor Cuomo, the council must meet in person. We are working to update council chamber equipment to have improved broadcast capabilities, and we support an update to Open Meetings Law to allow the full utilization of technology for the safety of our constituency and for a broader outreach and transparency for our meetings."