On Nov. 1, 1918, the city of Albany reported 7,091 cases of influenza, and no hospital deaths were reported. Hospitals, once crowded, now had plenty of beds available. And, for the first time since the start of the epidemic, no hospital deaths were reported.

Still, City Health Officer Dr. Arthur Sautter remained cautious. Fearing a second spike in cases if children were allowed back into their classrooms, he recommended to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment that schools be kept closed for an additional week. Theaters, he suggested, could reopen with little danger, provided they shorted their operating hours.

The Board accepted Sautter’s recommendations and ordered Albany’s schools to remain shut until at least November 9, and allowed theaters to operate from 7 pm to 11 pm starting Thursday, November 7.