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Daniel Dunaief

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Even as Suffolk County prepares for the second phase of the economic reopening to begin next Wednesday, which could include outdoor dining, officials are discussing the possibility of bringing graduations and minor league baseball back.

The Long Island Ducks, a minor league team, have come up with a safety plan with protocols in place that the county plans to submit to New York State.

“The plan is incredibly thorough and has all sorts of different protocols in place to keep people safe,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters.

If the county is able to reach the fourth phase of reopening in the middle of July, the Ducks could conceivably return to the diamond in front of a crowd of 25 percent of the normal capacity, which would enable attendees to be socially distanced in the park.

At safe distances, people could remove face coverings, the way they do when they go to beaches or are in the water. When walking around or going to the restroom, guests would need to wear face masks or coverings to protect themselves and their fellow baseball fans.

“We’re looking forward to getting this to the state,” Bellone said. “This is something that can happen.”

Additionally, while the Empire State has only permitted virtual and drive-through graduations, officials have left open the possibility of that they would review the possibility of a limited-seating graduation in July.

“I do believe we will be in a position to do this safely,” Bellone said.

The county has also worked with the Suffolk County Superintendents Association to develop a plan to create a safe, life graduation.

“I’m hopeful that will be able to happen later this summer,” Bellone said.

Viral Numbers

The viral figures continue to move in a favorable direction. Over the last day, an additional two people died from complications related to COVID-19, bringing the total to 1,918. This follows a day when one person died, so the pace of deaths, which have cast a pall over a county that was at the epicenter of the pandemic, has dramatically slowed.

Each death extinguishes a life and creates an irretrievable loss for each family, which is why the county and executive like Bellone are hoping that number soon falls to zero.

The number of people infected with the virus was 86. The total number of people who have contracted the virus is now 40,239, which is more than Singapore and Colombia, but is 2,700 less than Sweden, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The infections don’t include antibody testing. A total of 15,080 people have tested positive for antibodies.

Bellone urged residents to provide information if contact tracers reach out to them. When people limit the possible transmission of the deadly virus, as they did during the economically painful and costly New York Pause, they will save lives.

“We are still in this,” Bellone reminded residents. “We need everybody to continue to follow the health guidance and do the right thing here, so we can recovery as a community and get our small businesses back open.”

Hospitalizations, meanwhile, continue to drop. Through the 24 hour period ending on Wednesday, the number of people with COVID-19 in hospitals declined another 12, to 213.

The number of residents in the Intensive Care Unit fell by two to 54.

An additional 24 people left the hospital over the last day.

Small businesses that are struggling to meet the new supply demands for face coverings and sanitizer can submit a request starting on Monday through the suffolkcountyny.gov web site. Interested businesses should go to the Department of Labor section and submit a request. The first 1,000 people will received two reusable face cloths and a gallon jug of New York State Clean.

Nancy Reich. Photo from SBU

By Daniel Dunaief

Even as pharmaceutical companies are working furiously to produce a vaccine for COVID-19, scientists are taking other approaches that might lead to treatment for this disease or for other viruses that might threaten public health.

Nancy Reich, a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, and several colleagues at SBU recently received a $450,000 grant from the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation to pursue the laboratory study of two possible interventions.

Reich and her colleagues plan to investigate the use of interferon-lambda, which is in clinical trials for Hepatitis D virus, and an inhibitor for bradykinin called icatibant, which is approved for angioedema.

“Although we are very hopeful for a vaccine in the near future, vaccines can take months or years” to develop and use, Reich said. “The likelihood is that there will be more emerging diseases” which increases the need for broad spectrum first line defense therapeutics that might provide relief and save lives.

A few months ago, several faculty in microbiology and immunology got together on a Zoom call to discuss what they could do to combat COVID-19. The group was “very enthusiastic” about interferon, which is a natural hormone and is the only cytokine that’s antiviral. It has the ability to prevent the spread of the virus by reducing replication.

Reich will work with Patrick Hearing and Erich Mackow, who are both professors in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, on the molecular aspects of COVID-19. Associate Professor Janet Hearing and Assistant Professor Hwan Kim are certified to work in high containment biosafety laboratories.

COVID-19 seems to have figured out how to block the action or production of interferon, Reich said, although the lower levels of the hormone haven’t been confirmed yet.

Other researchers are testing how the virus that has caused the pandemic has blocked the production of this defense mechanism. The Reich-led group is also planning to test this process.

To get protection from interferon, people would likely need an increased amount of the antiviral molecule early in the infection process, Reich said. She and her team are focusing on interferon lambda, which is a specific type that primarily affect epithelial cells, which are the type of cells that line the respiratory and digestive systems.

Interferon alpha and beta cause systemic problems, which can trigger an overactive immune system to cause a cytokine storm. This can lead to severe symptoms, if the body’s reaction is strong enough.

“Because interferon lambda is more specialized in the targets it hits, it doesn’t cause this crazy, global effect in your body,” Reich said.

At this point, Reich is looking to use a pre-clinical animal model of COVID-19 to understand the processes involved with the virus and its reaction to different concentrations of this hormone at different times after infection.

Reich has reached out to a company called EIGR Pharmaceuticals, which is the only company that produces a pegylated version of interferon lambda. By adding polyethlylene glycol, or PEG, EIGR can extend the time that the drug remains in the body, reducing the need for new doses.

The interferon lambda receptors are prevalent in hepatocytes, or liver cells. The liver is particularly important in capturing bacteria, viruses and macromolecules that might otherwise cause harm in the human body. The interest in the liver and interferon is mainly because of hepatitis viruses.

Interferon lambda’s higher specificity reduces potential side effects that other interferons trigger in the blood or in the central nervous system. EIGR has created this interferon to treat Hepatitis D.

“I have contacted [EIGR] to do some COVID work and now they are,” Reich said. “They have some clinical trials going on in the United States, Israel and Australia.” In addition to their research work with interferon lambda, the group will also study the effects of bradykinin, which is a small peptide hormone that the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (or ACE2) receptor inactivates.

The group is exploring the use of inhibitors for bradykinin, hoping to reduce a molecular trigger that exacerbates symptoms of the disease.

“We are taking two approaches; one is more about the symptoms, through bradykinin inhibition, and the other is trying to block virus replication,” said Reich.

In their research with interferon and inhibitors to bradykinin, Reich is hoping to generate data that will be ready within several months.

If both of the approaches proves effective independently, Reich said the next steps could involve combining them.

If the combination works better than either of the treatments alone, the researchers, and, down the road, the doctors, who might use this approach could use a lower dose of both drugs, which could reduce any potential side effects.

Reich said this research is possible at Stony Brook because it has a Biosafety Level 3.“We are able to do these experiments that others may not be able to do,” she said.

The animal facility that will house the mice for her studies is still not accepting new animals. Reich hopes they start to accept them in June.

Reich appreciated the speed at which the Mathers Charitable Foundation reacted to their request for funds.

The Foundation, which was created by a Santa Barbara, California couple who donated their wealth to research in 1983, made a decision within weeks, reflecting the urgency that the public health crisis triggered by COVID-19 has created.

Many foundations typically take six to eight months to decide on funding.

Reich appreciates that she and her colleagues will have a chance to contribute to a growing body of research about a virus that has caused close to 100,000 deaths in the United States and has disrupted billions of lives around the world.

“Everybody realizes the urgency,” Reich said.

The H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge. Photo by Rita J. Egan

As the economic toll from the lockdown during the virus becomes clearer, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) has asked department heads to come up with 5 percent cuts in their discretionary spending, which would trim $60 million from the budget.

Those departments include the Health Department, the Department of Public Works, Real Estate, Parks, the Budget Office and the Office of Aging.

“Earlier today, I directed the departments under the control of the county executive’s office to identify potential cuts in preparation for the budget that we will be working on for 2021,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters.

As for the spread of the virus, Bellone said he is concerned about any increase in viral transmission during the numerous protests in response to the killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, who died when a former police officer, who was now charged with his murder, kneeled on his neck while he was handcuffed for close to nine minutes.

“Gatherings of this size and proximity is a concern,” Bellone said. The county executive said the transmission of the coronavirus could become evident over the next week.

As of now, the county has excess capacity at its testing sites, including in hotspot areas.

Separately, Bellone and Legislator Bridget Fleming (D-Sag Harbor) will host a town hall tonight at 6:30 p.m. to discuss testing and contact tracing. Interested residents can tune in through facebook.com/SteveBellone.

Viral Numbers

Over the last 24 hours, Suffolk County has had the smallest increase in deaths due to complications related to COVID-19, with one additional person dying. The current total is 1,916.

“Every day, I’m hoping to see that number get down to zero,” Bellone said. “We haven’t been down to [as low as one death] since the third week in March.”

The number of people infected with the virus each day continues to hover below 100. Over the last day, 91 people tested positive, raising the total in Suffolk County to 40,153. The number of residents who tested positive for the antibody was 14,778.

Hospitalizations, meanwhile, decreased by 11 to 225, with those in Intensive Care Unit beds declining by five to 56.

An additional 20 people were discharged from hospitals in Suffolk County.

Hundreds of protesters stand at the corner of Routes 112 and 347 in Port Jefferson Station Monday, June 1 to protest police violence, especially against people of color. Photo by David Luces

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Stepping outside of our homes presents risks. We could have a car accident on the way to work or a branch could fall on us, among myriad other potential dangers.

These days, the risks of leaving our homes have escalated. We could catch the dreaded coronavirus anywhere if we stand closer than six feet to anyone.

Nowadays, interactions that we engaged in all of our lives with friends and family, such as shaking hands or hugging, increase the risk of picking up the invisible enemy, bringing it to our home sanctuaries and infecting our partners, children, and parents.

We have learned to manage the risks we’ve now heard about for months by staying as far away from other people as we can and by wearing masks.

And yet, for some Americans, the risks of stepping outside of homes where we were hopefully safe most of the time, was clearly higher than it was for other Americans.

Indeed, the risks of dying from coronavirus differed by race. The age-adjusted death rate in Suffolk County for whites was 49.5 per 100,000 people, according to statistics from the Department of Health. For Hispanics on Long Island, that number is 108.7, which is more than twice the rate per 100,000 people. For blacks, the number is an astronomical 170.1 deaths per 100,000 people in the county, which is well over three times the rate for whites.

Those statistics generally track the disproportionate toll the virus has had on communities of color.

Now, layer on top of that the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Seemingly at the worst possible time for our country, as businesses are just starting to reopen and as standing within 6 feet of each other increases the chance of our catching a virus that has claimed over 100,000 American lives, people are going outside in huge numbers across the country to express their outrage over Floyd’s killing at the seemingly indifferent hands of a white police officer who faces third-degree murder charges.

Those African-Americans who gather, at the risk of contracting an infection that has already wreaked havoc in their communities, are expressing anger and frustration at a justice system that appears anything but just.

The news coverage of the protests has often focused on the most explosive and terrifying events, where looting and setting fire to police cars and engaging in random acts of violence have occurred. Those shocking actions are inexcusable manifestations of those frustrations, turning justifiable disappointment into illegal acts. These moments also threaten to overshadow the message from so many others who would like to see constructive changes.

Many peaceful protestors, however, might have the same approach to the risks of joining others to protest Floyd’s murder that President Donald Trump (R) did to the notion of taking hydroxychloroquine, which may or may not reduce the health effects and dangers of COVID-19.

What, they might wonder, do they have to lose at this point?

The answer is not so simple, particularly as the risk of getting arrested, hit with a rubber bullet or vomiting from inhaling tear gas increases.

The dangers in stepping outside into a world filled with a virus that infects our bodies and cultural viruses that threaten the soul of the country are especially high in a year with overtones from the civil unrest of the 1960’s.

Peaceful protestors can and should demand and expect the kind of changes that will allow them and their children to step outside to a country where the risks from being out of their homes shouldn’t depend on the color of their skin.

Hundreds of protesters stand at the corner of Routes 112 and 347 in Port Jefferson Station Monday, June 1 to protest police violence, especially against people of color. Photo by Kyle Barr

In response to the ongoing unrest in the country caused by the murder of Minneapolis resident George Floyd by a former police officer who has now been charged with second-degree murder, Suffolk County will field hate or bias crime calls through its 311 number.

Starting today, residents can call 311 to address concerns about bias or hate crimes that they are subjected to or that they witness.

“Hate, bias, bigotry and discrimination have no safe haven in Suffolk County,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters. Operators will be ready to provide information or transfer callers to the Human Rights Commission, as needed.

At protests around the county, which included seven such gatherings yesterday in Suffolk, residents are expressing concerns about hate crimes and bias, Bellone said.

The county executive continued to show an appreciation for the way demonstrators behaved during their protests and the ongoing protection and surveillance from police.

“The demonstrations we have seen have been peaceful,” Bellone said. “They represent a contrast with events that have transpired in other communities in our country. That is a credit to the people demonstrating and to the Suffolk County Police Department.”

Amid the economic devastation from the lockdown, Bellone commissioned a financial report that he presented to various public sector unions earlier today. The report anticipates a revenue shortfall of between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion over the next two years.

Bellone shared with those unions his hope that federal representatives, including Sen. Charles Schumer (D) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY-1) will continue to support the county and will endorse financial assistance amid the financial devastation caused by the virus.

Bellone didn’t offer the unions any specific assurances, saying that he wanted to give them the foundation of the financial issues the county was facing.

Meanwhile, outdoor seating at restaurants will be allowed throughout the state as each region reaches phase two of its reopening. At the latest, Suffolk County could enter that phase next Wednesday.

SC Taskforce Worst Case Scenario Projects $590 Mln Revenue Shortfall for 2020

None of the choices is particularly appealing, but V is certainly better than W and U.

A COVID-19 Fiscal Impact Task Force report projected a range of economic scenarios for the county, depending on the impact of the virus later this year. In a “V” case, the economy rebounds quickly and continues to climb.

A “W” scenario, on the other hand, recovers, then stumbles amid a second wave of the virus that doesn’t require a lockdown, and then stages another recovery.

The worst-case scenario, however, is the “U,” in which a second wave presents enough of a recurring public health crisis that the economy recovers far more slowly.

The three possibilities will likely dictate the extent of the revenue shortfall over the next three years.

About $329 million of the overall revenue shortfalls come from actual declines in sales tax collection so far in 2020. Additionally, the task force, which included Emily Youssouf, Larian Angelo, Michael Kelly and Nathan Leventhal, anticipates a 4.9 percent shortfall in property tax collections, which translates into a reduction in collections of $35 million.

The group also projected a $30 million revenue shortfall from OTB/ casino and motel/ hotel taxes.

The range of revenue shortfalls through 2022 are from $1.136 billion to $1.518 billion. The biggest single-year gap between projected revenue and actual revenue would be in the “U” scenario for this year, for which the county would come up $590 million short.

The task force concluded that the current economic outlook requires a swift and dramatic response to prevent an economic disaster.

“Even the most optimistic scenario which the task force has examined will place enormous pressure on the ability of the county to maintain an acceptable level of government service which the County’s residents have every right to expect,” the group warned in its conclusions.

Viral Numbers

The number of residents who tested positive for the virus was 82, raising the total with confirmed cases of COVID-19 to 40,062. With 4,840 tests, that represents a 1.7% percent positive rate among those tested, which is well below the rate for positive tests in April.

The number of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 declined by 11 to 236 as of the 24 hours ending on June 1. The number of people in Intensive Care Unit beds also fell by six to 61.

The percentage of people in hospital beds with COVID-19 was 63 percent, while the percentage in the ICU was 52 percent, both of which provide the kind of flexibility in the health care system the state hoped to provide.

Over the last day, another 11 people left the hospital. Six people have died over the last day due to complications related to the coronavirus, raising that enormous human toll to 1,915.

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Suffolk County has a tough task in digging out of its enormous financial hole.

A group of independent and municipal financial experts completed their analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the economy and presented it to County Executive Steve Bellone (D) last night.

Over the next two and a half years, the county is facing a shortfall that is anywhere from $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion, which is three times the budget deficit the county faced coming out of the financial crisis of the last decade.

“This is a budget crisis that is greater than this county has ever seen before,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters. “This report outlines it well. We have a long road ahead.”

Bellone is sending this report to the entire congressional delegation so they can understand the financial emergency created by the public health crisis.

“This is a crisis that’s beyond what a local government has the capacity to deal with on a local level,” Bellone said. “If ever there was a time that a local community needed their federal representatives to deliver for them, that moment is now.”

After residents did as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal government instructed, by staying at home, not going to work and limiting their activities over the last few months, Suffolk County residents need the federal government to say, “Yes, we have your back,” Bellone said.

The range of estimates for the shortfall comes from the uncertainty about how the virus will affect the county for the remainder of this year. On the lower end, which is still an enormous financial challenge, the economy remains open. In a second scenario, where a second wave of the virus hits in the fall, potentially concomitant with the appearance of the flu, the county needs to enact some economic restrictions.

In the third scenario, the spread of the virus is so problematic that it forces another lockdown, which would cause the shortfall to balloon to $1.5 billion.

No matter how the virus affects the county later this year, however, this has a “cataclysmic financial impact,” Bellone said. “This is not something we can get through alone. We need that support.”

The county executive said he plans to meet with employee unions, including those that represent police, nurses and emergency workers, to have some tough conversations.

These people are out there “trying to keep the public safe and to prevent a second wave,” Bellone said. “These are tough conversations only because these are extraordinarily difficult challenges.” It’s not something they should have to think about.”

Ultimately, Bellone said he believes the federal government will step up to the challenge created by the public health crisis and the economic damage it wrought.

“I’m confident our federal government will deliver and will do what needs to be done,” Bellone said.

As for the ongoing protests, including a demonstration in Shirley yesterday, Bellone remained appreciative of the peaceful and constitutionally protected way demonstrators expressed themselves.

When the demonstrators marched along William Floyd Parkway, the police “worked to deescalate a situation that could have grown worse,” Bellone said.

Viral Numbers

In the last day, the number of people who died from the virus was three, bringing the total to 1,909.

Those deaths, horrific as they are for each person who died and for the families and friends who lost a loved one, are the lowest they’ve been since March.

“If there’s anything positive today in being able to talk about those numbers” it’s that the death toll is lower than it’s been since the beginning of the crisis, Bellone said.

In the 24 hours ending on May 31, the number of residents hospitalized with COVID-19 dropped by six to 247. The number of people in Intensive Care Unit beds remained unchanged at 67.

People with COVID-19 accounted for 68 percent of bed use, while residents with COVID-19 accounted for 54 percent of ICU bed use, which are each below the target 70 percent figure that was necessary for Phase 1 of reopening.

The number of positive tests increased by 275 to 39,980. That number, however, includes 200 people who had not been reported earlier, which puts the number of new infections closer to the county’s daily tally, which has been tracking below 100.

The number of people who have tested positive for the virus on an antibody test has increased to 14,222.

As for supplies, the county distributed 22,000 pieces of personal protective equipment over the last day, raising that total above 5.8 million.

Today, the county received 50,000 surgical masks from the Taiwanese government, which had shipped them to New York City last week and were delivered to Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services today.

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As a part of a drive-in movie series, Smith Point County Beach will show the movie “Jaws” on June 20, 45 years after the Steven Spielberg-directed film terrified theater goers throughout a country a year removed from a gas crisis that appears tame by comparison to the confluence of today’s challenges.

“Hopefully that will be an experience people will enjoy with their families,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters. “Hopefully, they will enjoy it in a safe way.”

Suffolk County is approaching the end of its first full week in Phase One of an economic reopening, even as emotions run high in the county, the country and the world after the killing of George Floyd by a now-fired Minneapolis police officer who is now facing murder charges.

Group gatherings, even peaceful protests, themselves pose a health risk to attendees as researchers continue to try to develop a vaccine for a virus that threatens the health and lives of residents, particularly those with underlying medical conditions.

“We are always going to be concerned with people coming together in large gatherings, where they are not practicing social distancing,” Bellone said. “We want people to protest and express their First Amendment rights, but we want to do it safely.”

The county executive again thanked the community for peaceful expressions throughout the efforts to restart the economy and as protests in urban areas have, at times, led to violent confrontations with police and to rioting and looting.

Bellone said the Suffolk County Police Department is taking the approach that the officers are a part of the community and are not just in place to restrict or police others.

“When people are out there protesting because they have a message they want to get across, ‘We are there to make sure they are safe,’” Bellone said.

While officials remain concerned about the possibility of larger gatherings leading to resurgence of the virus after hard-won gains during the deadly month of April, they are also willing to change their guidance if such gatherings don’t lead to an increase in infections or put a strain on the recovering health care system.

The county can look at these gatherings and see how they affect public health, Bellone said. “We can take something away from that,” he said.

Still, the county executive said he urges residents not to become too cavalier about following rules that have led to an improvement in the overall health of the county, albeit at the cost of a slowed economy and an increase in unemployment.

“After being cooped up for so long” with all the devastation from the effort to flatten the curve and save people’s lives, residents need to think about “how to prevent sliding back in any way,” Bellone urged. “If people continue to be smart and exercise caution, we can reopen our economy safely. We need the public to continue to be smart.”

Viral Figures

The number of new positive tests for COVID-19 was 62, bringing the total to 39,705. That doesn’t include the 14,138 people who have tested positive for the antibody.

The number of people in the hospital with the virus, a figure no one in the health care system over the course of the year is likely to ever take for granted, declined by 16 to 253.

The number of people in the Intensive Care Unit also declined seven to 67.

The percentage of hospital beds and ICU beds with COVID-19 patients, meanwhile, was at 62 and 63, respectively, which are well below the original target of 70 percent or lower.

Another 25 people were discharged from the hospital over the last day.

The number of people who died from complications related to COVID-19 climbed by five to 1,906.

The county distributed another 24,000 pieces of personal protective equipment over the last day. That total has reached over 5.7 million since the pandemic reached the shores of Long Island.

Local students from the Three Village area protest police misconduct in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Photo by Myrna Gordon

Amid the confluence of social unrest caused by people eager to see the economy reopen faster and those distressed by the killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said he appreciates the peaceful way people are demonstrating in Suffolk County.

“I want to thank everyone who has been out there, participating in these demonstrations, for doing this peacefully, and expressing their rights as American citizens,” Bellone said on his daily conference call. “Unfortunately, we have seen too many instance where that has not been the case across the country.”

Indeed, in several cities, the reaction to the death of Floyd after a former police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, has led to violence and chaos.

“Looting is never acceptable,” said Bellone. “It undermines the point of the message. It has the effect of taking the attention away from the change people are fighting for, the change people want to see.”

Viral Numbers

The number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last day was 111, bringing the total to 39,643. That doesn’t include the 13,953 who tested positive for the antibody.

As fo May 29, the number of residents in the hospital with COVID-19 declined by six to 269.

The number of people in Intensive Care Unit beds also declined by six to 74.

Over the last day, 24 people were discharged from the hospital.

The number of fatalities related to complications from the virus continues to climb, with nine people losing their lives to the pandemic, raising the total to 1,901.

The county distributed over 9,000 pieces of personal protective equipment in the last day, raising that total to over 5.7 million.

County Executive Steve Bellone, center, SCPD Commissioner Geraldine Hart, left, and Chief of Department Stuart Cameron, right. File photo

With protests and violence rocking several cities, including New York City, after the videotaped killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) called the officer’s actions a type of racism.

“Perhaps the most disturbing thing” about the way now-fired officer Derek Chauvin, who is now in jail on charges of third-degree murder, acted is the “lack of concern that this officer showed in knowing that he was being videotaped,” said Bellone on his daily conference call with reporters. “That suggests this officer felt that there was no accountability.”

In calling the actions of Chauvin structural racism, Bellone pointed to a Newsday investigation that revealed a similar type of racism and discrimination in the housing industry on Long Island.

While Suffolk County has made “an incredible amount of progress, we clearly have much more work to do,” Bellone said.

The county executive said he understood the protests that have taken place in response to videos that showed Chauvin kneeling on the neck of the handcuffed Floyd, whose pleas that he couldn’t breathe went unheeded.

Bellone, however, said overrunning a police station “can not happen” and expressed his support for the vast majority of police officers who are “hard working, dedicated professionals who are putting their own safety on the line to protect us.”

In a statement she read during the media call, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said Floyd’s death was “an outrage” and was “unacceptable.” She condemned the tragic killing, while adding that she holds the officers of the Suffolk County Police Department to the “highest standards.”

Suffolk County Police Chief Stuart Cameron, who has been on the force for over 35 years, described how he has been in situations where people resisted his efforts to arrest them.

Force is a “last resort,” Cameron said. Officers are trained to “use the bare minimum force necessary to get someone into custody.”

Cameron has never put a knee to another person’s neck and said he had never seen another police officer in the SCPD use a similar tactic during his career. Officers have not received training to pin a suspect to the ground with a knee to a handcuffed person’s neck.

Pinning someone to the ground could cause positional asphyxia, spinal damage, or can cause damage to the airway.

Cameron said he believes his officers will step in and intervene if another officer is using unnecessary or excessive force.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said the state would be getting the attorney general to review procedures following the demonstrations which turned violent on Friday, with multiple instances of recorder violence against protesters and violent actions against police.

Viral Numbers

As for the COVID-19 numbers, the county has had an additional 87 positive tests, bringing the total to 38,582. That doesn’t include 13,733 people who have tested positive for the antibody.

Hospitalizations have declined by 16 to 275 as of May 28. At the same time, the number of residents with COVID-19 in ICU beds has fallen by 5 to 80.

Hospital capacity was at 65 percent for overall beds and 62 percent for ICU beds.

The number of people who have been discharged from the hospital in the last day was 27.

An additional 13 people have died from complications related to the coronavirus. The total number of deaths has reached 1,892.

Separately, the county reopened its camping reservation system yesterday at 4 p.m. Residents made 4,739 reservations for 25,608 reservation days.

“That shows the demand we have and the desire for people to get out and enjoy summer,” Bellone said. “We are going to be able to have a summer here in Suffolk County.”

Beaches, meanwhile, remain open for residents only.

Jennifer Keluskar. Photo from SBU

By Daniel Dunaief

In the second of a two-part series, Times Beacon Record News Media describes the clinical and research work of Jennifer Keluskar, a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Stony Brook University.

Keluskar and Matthew Lerner, an Associate Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry & Pediatrics (see last week’s paper), recently received a grant from the Office of the Vice President for Research & the Institute for Engineering-Driven Medicine to study the effects of COVID-19-induced social isolation on people with Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

Keluskar spends half her time working at the Outpatient Department of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Services, where she provides cognitive behavioral intervention and ASD diagnostic evaluations for youth with autism, and the other half working on the SB Autism Initiative.

The pandemic has challenged young people with autism, as they manage through social isolation and worry about an uncertain future. Many of Jennifer Keluskar’s patients are struggling, with some dreading the return to school in the fall and others grappling with the removal or change in a routine or structure.

Some of her clients have felt increased pressure to organize their time and be productive amid a lack of peer support and without the opportunities to model their performance based on interacting with other students at school.

Through modeling, some students take notes when they notice their classmates writing down concepts or ideas a teacher is sharing or gaining some measure of reassurance when they see that everyone is struggling with the work load.

“This latter point is particularly relevant given the novelty of this situation for teachers as well as the consequent likelihood that they will have trouble knowing how much work to give, especially given the wide variety” of circumstances at home, Keluskar explained in an email.

For some students with autism who have a measure of social-anxiety disorder, the remote learning environment has provided some measure of relief, reducing the difficulty in reading nonverbal cues from their classmates and teachers.

Now that these students are learning remotely, these “social stressors have been lifted,” Keluskar said.

Nonetheless, even the patients who have felt relieved about fewer anxiety-inducing social interactions are starting to develop concerns about a potential resumption of classes in the fall.

Keluskar has already seen some patients who are perseverating on that future upcoming transition. “We are going to see more of it in my clientele as we get closer to reopening schools,” she said, adding that she has some patients who are afraid of not being able to advance in life, to college or to jobs, but who, at the same time, are afraid of taking the next step after getting used to quarantine.

Jennifer Keluskar with her husband Raja, 5-year-old daughter Skylar and three-year-old son Colby.

Working with Alan Gerber, a graduate student in Matthew Lerner’s lab at SBU, Keluskar will assess responses to COVID-19. They have sent out two questionnaires. One, which was released by other researchers, examines how the pandemic has affected circumstances and behaviors, from employment changes to junk food consumption. The other is an evidence-based measure of parental stress that is not specific to the virus. She is going to measure anxiety and depression to see how they change during quarantine. 

Keluskar appreciates how the Initiative offers programs such as a homework club, which students can attend virtually for an hour each day. “I have connected some of my clients in the clinic to undergraduate mentors and so far this has been quite successful” although the scale of these connections has been small so far.

The Initiative currently has a mentoring program geared towards older adolescents. She is planning to offer this program to younger individuals.

Deborah Gross, the Initiative’s coordinator, runs a program called the Sidekicks Squad, which is for older adolescents and young adults with special needs.

“Some of my patients would benefit from pairing with a mentor,” Keluskar said. “Through these mentoring sessions, people with autism hang out with their mentors.”

Child-directed interpersonal time is “so important for people’s well being and development,” Keluskar explained, referring to both the mentor and the mentee.

She appreciates that this mentoring program is laid back and fun and believes that mentors benefit just as much from it as mentees.

Through the Initiative, the group has also done eight weekly, Facebook livestream events. The organizers discuss a topic and add three tips at the end. The tips have provided suggestions, including: using creativity to engage children by adding special interests into activities; taking a collaborative problem solving approach when running into difficulties getting a child to cooperate; and understanding emotional underpinnings to children’s behavioral difficulties.

Keluskar recognizes the challenge that come from having self-directed resources available to children and their parents. Even when people have access to many resources, they do not always know where to begin or what to prioritize, she said.

She advises a parents to try to get enough rest for themselves. “You need to take care of yourself so you can model [appropriate behavior] to your children,” she said.

Through the pandemic challenges, Keluskar also urges parents to be creative in their responses to the stressors that are affecting them and their children. She suggests people to take chances in how they approach their interactions with anxious children.

“You can’t be creative if you’re afraid of being wrong,” she said. “Being able to move past little mistakes shows flexible control. Set limits and be structured, but also be flexible at the same time.”

A resident of Commack, Keluskar lives with her husband Raja Keluskar, who is an engineer, their five-year old daughter Skylar and their three-year old son Colby.

Keluskar said she has been anxious about public speaking since she was young and can empathize with others who struggle with this. Through Facebook groups and other efforts, she said she can “personally attest to the value of multiple exposures and say that it can even become enjoyable with time and practice.”