On Oct. 8, 2018, Albany Commissioner of Public Safety James Sheldon Frost ordered all schools, churches, theaters, movie houses, and libraries closed, and indoor public gatherings suspended, beginning October 9.

The City Council made it a misdemeanor to cough or sneeze in public without covering the mouth, with a whopping $500 fine and the possibility of a year in prison for offenders. Residents were warned not to spit in public or risk arrest and a $10 fine.

The city’s orphanages closed their doors to visitors or new intakes. Albany buckled down for the epidemic.