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Daniel Dunaief

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At a time when budgets will be extremely tight amid the gradual economic recovery caused by the virus-induced economic shutdown, investing in organizations that help people deal with mental health problems and substance abuse now could save considerably more money later.

That’s the argument Family and Children’s Association Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds makes, particularly as Suffolk and Nassau County Executives Steve Bellone (D) and Laura Curran (D) urge more federal aid for Long Islanders.

“When you have untreated mental health and substance abuse disorders, the county will pay for that one way or the other,” Reynolds said in an interview. “The question is: do you want to pay for it upfront or on the back end,” with the loss of life from drug overdoses.

Jeffrey Reynolds, the CEO of the Family and Children’s Association. Photo from FCA website

Throughout Long Island, Reynolds, who had previously been the Executive Director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, said the emphasis on basic needs among families has increased, particularly as the number of unemployed in the area has approached 200,000.

Many of the unemployed are “involved in low wage jobs to begin with” and are living “at the margins,” so there is a need for food, rental assistance, and housing, he said. The basic needs have increased significantly.

The transition to telehealth has been effective for those with mild or moderate challenges and, in some ways, is even easier than walking into a church basement or going to a center. The first step, which is often the hardest in entering any kind of treatment program, involves fewer logistical challenges and allows people to remain anonymous.

At the same time, however, some of these virtual efforts are problematic for those who are dealing with a significant level of impairment.

People who have a more acute mental health condition are “less likely to engage via telehealth” and the same holds true for people with severe substance abuse, Reynolds said. “A virtual session is not the same as seeing them in person and groups are not the same as they were before.”

FCA has seen an increased demand for services for people who were anxious or depressed. Fear or a lack of control brought on by the virus is bringing some of these symptoms to the surface.

“Across the board, we are seeing an increased demand for services,” Reynolds said. “There is now space in which we’re not seeing that request.”

The virus has made health care disparities more visible. The numbers of illnesses and fatalities in Brentwood, for example, are 12 times higher than in Garden City. That relates to preexisting conditions like obesity and diabetes, but also to the crowded living conditions in Brentwood.

The combination of the business closings such as gyms, restaurants, movie theaters, and other enterprises creates anxiety and impacts family structure and family functioning, Reynolds said.

Long Island has had to cope with previous recessions and downturns from disasters like Superstorm Sandy, but this is “even deeper. I imagine we’re going to see the ripple effects for a decade to come.”

Reynolds is concerned about people returning to their normal lives at some point, without addressing underlying problems in the communities or with other families.

Still, Reynolds feels fortunate to work for an organization that has existed and helped communities and neighborhoods for 135 years. That means the group was around during the Spanish Flu in 1918 and 1919.

“What keeps me going is that we’re always had to do more with less,” Reynolds said. “We found hope in people’s lives where it seems like there isn’t.”

Indeed, the group not only survived the Spanish Flu, but also made it through both World Wars, the Great Depression, 9/11, and numerous natural disasters.

Additionally, on the positive side, the FCA can provide services in a much timelier way. People who call with a drug or alcohol problem can get some help within ten minutes. The current environment provides the equivalent of “treatment on demand,” Reynolds said.

The FCA head urged people to get involved, which could mean volunteering time at a school, offering help to a local charity or checking on an elderly neighbor.

He urged people to dedicate some of the time they spend on social media to helping others.

Reynolds has spoken with numerous people who have alcohol dependency. When they finally get treatment, some of them have said, “If it was that bad, why didn’t anybody say something to me?”

He urged friends and family to care for each other, asking about weight loss or prolonged sleep. He suggested having conversations that go beneath the surface.

Children and families benefit from structure, especially in a challenging environment. Reynolds suggested a regular evening meal time and a consistent time and place for homework.

Ultimately, as the head of a 135-year old organization, Reynolds said people need to believe that “you can get through this,” he said. “Even if it feels like the world is ending, it’s not.”

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By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Like it or not, ready or not, we will be starting August at the end of this week. That means many students and faculty will be returning to college, for those schools that are welcoming students back to campus and for however long those young learners will be allowed to remain there.

So, what should be on the shopping list?

Well, for starters, the kids will need masks and abundant quantities of hand sanitizer. Sure, colleges are promising to have some of each scattered around the facilities students will have to take turns using, but, to the extent we can find and afford it, we should include these health care items on our packing list.

They’ll probably need their own thermometers, just so they can respond, at a moment’s notice, to the question of how they are feeling and whether they’ve had any fever. In fact, they should carry the thermometer to every class.

Of course, this often isn’t sufficient in the age of COVID-19, in large part because so many people, particularly those who are our children’s age, don’t have a fever even if they are carriers and potential super-spreaders of the virus.

They’ll also need plenty of cleaning supplies because they may prefer to clean their rooms and common spaces like bathrooms themselves or because schools may be reluctant to send other people into their suite or hallway bathrooms.

We might want to add a laminated card that includes critical phone numbers and addresses. If they are far enough from home, they might need a safe place to stay in case they have to vacate campus immediately, like an antiseptic barn or a never-used cabin in the woods. They also might need to know the name and phone number of a local doctor or a doctor from home who can talk them through any medical challenges through telemedicine. Waiting at university health services, urgent care facilities, or hospitals may create undo stress and raise exposure to the virus.

Now, how many weeks or months of clothing to pack has become a matter of opinion. Some people, like my daughter, are listening to their school suggestion and are planning to pack for a total of three weeks. In that case, one or even one-and-a half suitcases may be sufficient.

Okay, what else? Well, they’ll need electronics and chargers, so they can do most of their work from their dorm room or a pre-reserved room in a library or any other space students can reserve that is cleaned in between study sessions.

Given that the gym, where they might go to run or lift weights, is likely on restricted hours or is only available for school athletes, they might also want to bring a few light weights, just to get some exercise in the room.

Even though they may only be there for three weeks, they’ll need plenty of air freshener and bug spray. If these students and their roommates spend most if not all of their time in their rooms, they may eat most, if not all, of their meals in this small space. Unless they take regular, exercise-inducing trips to remove their trash, the leftovers will likely start to smell within a few days, particularly in hotter rooms that don’t have air conditioners.

These students will also need cameras and plenty of memory in their electronic devices. If they only get three weeks or less of time on campus, they’re probably going to want to document as much as possible of their campus life, before they do all of their learning remotely.

Oh, and they might need a few notebooks, pencils and pens. Then again, if they do everything online, those antiquated items might be unnecessary in a year of unknowns.

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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. File photo by Alex Petroski

During a press conference July 28 at the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran (D) made the case for what’s at stake for Long Island the day before heading to Washington to urge the congressional delegation to provide financial support for the area.

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, which claimed the lives of close to 2,000 Suffolk County residents, Bellone and Curran urged the federal government to appreciate what was at stake as residents continued to deal with the mental health consequences of a deadly virus, job losses, and ongoing fear and uncertainty.

Indeed, the 64-year-old LICADD has had a 20 percent uptick in calls as people grapple with mental health problems and anxiety, Steve Chassman, the executive director of LICADD said.

“Many people have crossed an imaginary line, where the 6 p.m. drink became the 2 p.m. drink,” Chassman said in an interview. For some, that has even developed into an “11 a.m. drink.”

Data from police have shown the number of opioid overdoses, both nonfatal and fatal, have increased dramatically since the start of the pandemic, rolling back almost two years of decreases.

At the press conference, Bellone and Curran said they believe the long road to recovery ahead for Long Islanders requires the ongoing support of services like LICADD and the Hempstead-based Family & Children’s Association.

Bellone said he and Curran were heading to Washington to make it clear “we’re talking about people’s lives and families in crisis.” These type of services, including public safety, public health, social services and mental health, are “even more important today” and will be critical as “we seek to recover from this over the next several years.”

Long Island has been battling an opioid crisis that has wreaked havoc throughout the region. The pandemic has increased the risks from opioids, among other drugs, even as Nassau and Suffolk are “still dealing with the direct impacts.”

Jeffrey Reynolds, the president and CEO of Family & Children’s Association, suggested that it “makes no sense to help save someone’s life from COVID-19 only to have them die from a fatal overdose or suicide.”

He called the current challenges among Long Island’s “darkest hour,” which is “exactly what we are seeing on the ground.”

Reynolds noted that social isolation has strained the mental health of individuals and families. In the last two weeks, Reynolds has seen three overdoses, including one of his former staff members.

Reynolds urged Washington to recognize the need for mental health services is just as critical as the need to protect people from viral infection.

“Nobody in Washington or in Albany, from either side of the aisle, would dare say, for the second, third or fourth wave of COVID that we don’t have enough money” for personal protective equipment. “This is the same. Untreated social anxiety and mental health conditions rank right up there and need our full attention.”

In an interview, Chassman added that residents have also self-medicated through other outlets, including gambling, online spending, emotional eating and sexually acting out.

“These are unhealthy coping mechanisms for fear, anxiety and stress,” Chassman said.

Reynolds offered support to the county executives as they head to Washington.

Turning to Bellone and Curran, Reynolds said, “You have our voice and our good wishes as you go forward” to make sure “these vital services” remain available to Long Islanders.

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By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Here we are, July 23 and it’s time to Play Ball!

The Yankees and the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals are returning to the field. The old familiar rules are still in place, with a few COVID-19 related exceptions, including air fists and air elbows.

So, as professional athletes prepared to return this week to some of America’s favorite activities, I conducted a non-scientific poll, reaching out to a range of people to ask a few sports questions.

Before I get to the responses, it occurs to me to make a suggestion to the many teams preparing to fill empty stadiums with cardboard cutouts. Why not reach out to young, budding artists to get them to send cutouts that the teams could put in the seats? In a baseball game, if a cutout gets hit with a foul ball, the stadium crew could sanitize the ball, put it in a case and ship it to the lucky fan whose cutout was hit.

Anyway, here are the survey results.

For starters, Marie will “probably watch more sports. Not because I want to. But because my husband and children will be clamoring for any available TVs in the house. I hear them say that they would watch chess if it was televised,” she explained in an email.

She suspects watching the game may not be as much fun without fans in the stands.

Although she’s been told she’s a “negative Nelly,” Marie doesn’t think either the seasons or the school year will finish.

Jane, who is more of a sports fan, says she and her family are “so starved for competition and sports on TV and in person” that they’ll likely “binge watch sports” and, when they can attend, will go as much as possible.
They are college sports fans, so they’ve discussed the possibility of football Saturdays without football. She anticipates numerous shortened seasons.

Paula, a good friend whose passion for the Yankees is as deep as her husband’s dedication to the Red Sox, expects the household to have as much sports as before, which means they will have a game on every night whenever anyone is playing. Their sports enthusiasm connects them with their college-aged son. They have been watching exhibition baseball games. They expect baseball may get through the season, particularly with large enough rosters. She isn’t optimistic about hockey, basketball or football.

A New England fan, Luke will probably watch more of the Patriots and Tampa Bay football teams, because of his interest in Tom Brady and Cam Newton. His daughters are more concerned about their own leagues than the pros. He thinks the NBA might make it 20 games and the NFL about 10.

Robert calls his Phillies’ watching a “family ritual,” and he looks forward to spending time together cheering on the team. Last year, his family splurged for expensive seats near the infield for the first time and were looking forward to repeating that this summer. They also love watching the Olympics, which will have to wait until next year.

His family hasn’t discussed the return of sports, which may reflect a phase of “acceptance given all the suffering going on in the world.” Still he anticipates “huddling together on the family room couch” to watch the Phillies. With strong testing programs and without fans or crowds, he anticipates that the shortened season will conclude, even if case numbers rise.

Finally, Jenn, who doesn’t watch any sports, caught a few moments of the Yankees-Mets game at Citi Field, which she continues to refer to as Shea. She observed that there is “something so viscerally communal about sports it seems so sad and empty without the community” of fans. Some of those fans, however, will be coming together in person and at a distance, to cheer on their teams.

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John Inglis. Photo courtesy of CSHL

By Daniel Dunaief

In the post COVID-19 world, the pace of science and, in particular, scientific publishing has changed, giving researchers a sense of urgency to share information that might lead to preventions, treatments and cures.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has produced two preprint research services, bioRxiv and MedRxiv, that complement the longer peer-reviewed path to publication.

After numerous scientists restructured their labs to contribute to the growing body of knowledge and information about COVID-19, these researchers turned to preprint services to share the results of their work and the evolution of their thoughts on how to defeat the virus.

“It’s absolutely unprecedented for scientists to drop what they are doing and switch their focus to something completely new to aid society and mankind in general,” said John Inglis, the co-founder of bioRxiv and one of the members of joint management group for medRxiv.

MedRxiv, which started in June of 2019, helped provide the scientific community with an outlet for their health science research, with the caveat that the results haven’t received a thorough peer review, as they might in the New England Journal of Medicine, Cell, or other periodicals.

The number of preprint research papers has climbed dramatically this year, as scientists race to get their results from the bench to the server. The number of papers in bioRxiv increased to 88,268 in June from 71,458 in January. The increase at the newer medRxiv is much more dramatic, climbing from 953 in January to 7,541 in June.

The number of pandemic related papers on medRxiv and bioRxiv in total is 6,458, with 5,133 on medRxiv and 1,325 on bioRxiv.

Pandemic-related papers account for close to 70 percent of the new research published on medRxiv since January 1st, while the percentage of virus-related papers on bioRxiv is 6.2%, in large part because bioRxiv includes numerous other subject areas, including ecology, bioinformatics, plant biology and zoology.

The world has taken notice of all these papers, with page views peaking in April for medRxiv to almost 11 million for the month.

While the papers aren’t peer reviewed, the managers of these sites urge readers to remain cautious in their interpretation and use of these findings, while the scientific community continues to duplicate any encouraging or compelling results.

“We remind people all the time that these are preprints,” Inglis said, as the site has numerous reminders about the early nature of the findings. “They are preliminary reports and should not guide clinical practice or be reported as established information. That’s a battle we’re still fighting.”

The peer review process has also picked up some speed, as journals, inundated with potential game-changing material, have been accelerating the process of reading and reviewing papers. The median time between posting an article on bioRxiv and publication in a journal before the pandemic was nine months. Some papers in medRxiv have been published in journal in as few as 35 days.

For medRxiv, the screening process requires an ethics statement, a funding statement, and any potential conflicts of interest. These requirements are “all far more familiar in medical publishing than in scientific publishing,” said Inglis.

At bioRxiv, which recently introduced a competing interest statement as well for authors, freelancers and a group of Principal Investigators look at everything before it posts, to make sure it’s science and that it’s not dangerous. The screeners turn the manuscripts back to the team if they have any concerns.

“We felt, early in the pandemic, that it was necessary to make sure we have people with expertise in outbreak science,” Inglis explained. “We brought on volunteers.”

According to Inglis, the percentage of manuscripts that scientists submit, but that bioRxiv doesn’t publish, is between 5 and 10 percent, while that figure is closer to 20 to 25 percent for medRxiv.

Inglis said numerous scientists have done some modeling based on public data, but that the preprints don’t accept those papers unless they contain additional research.

The preprint management team was “worried about the indiscriminate use of these models to guide public policy,” he said.

Additionally, the team excluded manuscripts that might be dangerous to human health or human-health related behavior. They didn’t want people to rush out and take something that, theoretically, might help, but that hasn’t received sufficient testing. A treatment might block a receptor, but also have significant side effects.

Inglis said the team of people who work at the preprints, which includes five full-time preprint-platform dedicated staff members and seven other CSHL staff with other responsibilities, including the founders, tech developers and production staff, worked seven days a week, with long working days to meet the increased need and demand.

People working on this effort “are not doing it because they are getting rich or handsomely acknowledged.” An arduous job with thousands of papers, the staff are working out of a “sense of purpose and mission,” Inglis explained.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and CSHL provide financial support for these preprints. The research community has shared their appreciation for these preprints and CSHL generously acknowledges the work of the staff.

Inglis and Richard Sever co-founded bioRxiv. MedRxiv is managed by Sever and Inglis in collaboration with Professors Harlan Krumholz and Joe Ross from Yale and Dr. Theo Bloom and Claire Rawlinson from BMJ, which was originally called the British Medical Journal.

Inglis said numerous papers have become game-changers in the battle against the virus, including a study from two weeks ago in the United Kingdom on dexamethasone, a steroid that was proven effective in severe cases of COVID-19. Indeed, just recently, a Bethesda hospital became the first in the nation to use the steroid to combat the virus.

The team working in preprints at CSHL appreciates the opportunity to contribute to the public health crisis.

Inglis is pleased with how the community trusted the preprints with their work, while numerous members of the community helped screen manuscripts and provide advice about how to react to the needs of the pandemic.

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The statue of St. Charles outside the hospital. Photo by Marilyn Fabbricante

At St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson and St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, the use of face masks, regardless of the threat level from the virus that has claimed the lives of just over 2,000 people in Suffolk County and more than 144,000 in the United States, is likely to continue.

“I see [the use of] face masks moving forward.”

—Cecilia Hill

“I see [the use of] face masks moving forward,” said Cecilia Hill, director of Infection Prevention and Control at St. Charles.

Indeed, Hill and James O’Connor, president of St. Charles and St. Catherine’s hospitals, said they believe that masks were a critical part of protective equipment for staff.

Almost all of the antibody tests for staff at St. Charles came back negative, which Hill suggested “says a lot for what we were doing” to protect staff, including mask wearing and hand hygiene.

St. Charles recently restarted elective surgeries, which were on hold during the worst months of the pandemic on Long Island.

Anyone coming in for elective surgery needs a COVID-19 screening. The hospital also uses temperature screenings for staff and visitors. Medical personnel and visitors have to attest to the fact that they are feeling well and are showing no signs of the virus.

These procedures will “be in place for quite some time in the far future,” Hill said.

O’Connor said the two local hospitals didn’t meet Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) target for 90 day’s worth of personal protective equipment for every hospital, which was his original goal in case of another viral surge.

“No one is able to get those kinds of supplies,” O’Connor said. Still, he said the hospitals would be in “far better shape, assuming there’s a surge in the fall,” because they are collecting as much PPE as they can. The hospitals are also not using as many N95 masks as they were, in part because they are testing so many patients.

O’Connor declined to give the exact amount of PPE the hospitals had on hand.

Following health and safety guidelines during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic also helped lower the spread during the annual flu season.

A viral born respiratory illness like COVID, the flu typically threatens public health between December and the middle of May.

Suffolk County typically gets “slammed with the flu until the middle of May,” said Hill. This year, the last case was in March. While that could also be a product of people suffering through the flu without coming to a hospital during the pandemic, social distancing, face masks and sheltering in place likely reduced the spread of a disease that can also be fatal in some cases, though not nearly as much as COVID-19.

“My hope is that, because all of the testing, we are going to know earlier on that the wave is coming back.”

— James O’Connor

As the number of confirmed positive cases of people with COVID-19 has declined, O’Connor said the fear of going to the hospital for elective surgery is lower.

“Everybody is aware that the numbers are down on Long Island and in New York state,” he said. “My hope is that, because all of the testing, we are going to know earlier on that the wave is coming back.”

All elective surgeries have had testing done three days before the scheduled procedures. In cases where tests come back positive, the hospitals are postponing those procedures.

O’Connor said some of these tests have come back positive, even for people who are asymptomatic. The COVID-19 test is required for people who have fallen and fractured their hips.

“A number of positives are not because they are having symptoms,” O’Connor said. “They aren’t complaining of a fever or other respiratory problems. These are probably mild cases.”

O’Connor said it’s unclear from the literature that a mild case doesn’t spread as much as someone with full-blown COVID with a fever.

Indeed, some medical literature suggests that asymptomatic cases may shed even more of a viral load, he said.

Hill suggested there was a drastic contrast between patients who first came in with symptoms related to the virus and the people they are seeing now.

Part of the reason the prognosis has improved is that hospitals like St. Charles and St. Catherine’s have a much better idea of how to treat patients. Some drugs have helped relieve the symptoms associated with the virus.

As for the staff at the hospitals, O’Connor said he hopes they learned from the public health challenge during the worst of the first wave.

“You hope, and I would pretty much guess, that anybody who lived through it the first time will be very careful about potentially exposing themselves,” he said. “If you talk to people, what they are most concerned about is what’s coming back.”

Ultimately, O’Connor and Hill urged people to abide by the face mask guidelines, particularly when they are close to others. The decision not to wear a mask could have implications for the longevity of others who are following public health guidelines.

“Do the right thing,” O’Connor said. “Protect yourself and those around you.”

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Eric Yee. Photo by Felicia Allard

By Daniel Dunaief

In the second of a two-part series, Times Beacon Record News Media will feature the work of Eric Yee, who, like his wife Felicia Allard who was featured last week, is joining the Pathology Department at Stony Brook University.

Eric Yee

Eric Yee, who started as an Associate Professor and Director of Surgical Pathology at Stony Brook Renaissance School of Medicine on July 1, described the focus of his scientific research as translational.

He consults with and helps science researchers put together ideas for experiments, while he and his wife Felicia Allard focus on bringing that work into the clinical setting.

“We provide expertise mainly in clinical gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary pathology,” Yee explained in an email. “We also give insights and perspectives as practicing pathologists to help [with the] analysis of data and how that data in the lab or in animal models may be relevant to clinical medicine.”

Yee completed a gastrointestinal pathology fellowship, working on collaborative research projects and publishing manuscripts with investigators.

As one of the newest members of the staff at Stony Brook, he has worked on some studies looking at certain kinds of inflammatory diseases in the liver. He collaborated with senior investigator Zhenghui Gordon Jiang of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to look at mediators of inflammation in the disease steatohepatitis. He has also worked on different cancer research projects, which is part of the appeal of Stony Brook.

Stony Brook has “important pancreatic research,” Yee said, adding that. Pathology Department Chair Ken Shroyer is a “renowned investigator whose research team has done great work that has led to important insights into pancreatic cancer biology.”

Pancreatic cancer is of particular interest to Yee in his clinical work and he hopes to explore the variety of research expertise at Stony Brook, to support ongoing efforts and to develop projects of his own.

Relocating to Stony Brook from the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where Allard and Yee both worked in the Pathology Department, took some convincing for both of the scientists.

“We were very happy in Little Rock and purchased a home in Arkansas two years prior and were just starting to set down roots,” Yee described in an email. “We made lifelong friendships and very much enjoyed the camaraderie among our peers and other departments.”

Yee and Allard had no plans to leave as they approached their third year and were hesitant to move.

In his first visit, Yee said he was impressed with the amount of research in the Stony Brook department, which, he said, has more researchers compared to other institutions of similar size.

On the other side, however, Yee said he and Allard had to reconcile the higher cost of living in New York. They also weren’t eager to make too many moves in their career, especially when they were happy in Arkansas.

Even after the first visit, Yee said he was hesitant to make a move, which would require time to settle in, build relationships, find a home, learn a new system, and find new opportunities, among other challenges..

Shroyer was “very understanding of my hesitation,” Yee explained. “He’s been one of my mentors since medical school and knew exactly where I was coming from.

Clinically, the couple also believed in the potential for career growth.

“There’s a lot of energy in the department,” Yee said. He also appreciated the opportunity to be the Director of Surgical Pathology, where he could shape the operations that support the clinical mission. He would like to optimize the department by specialization, creating a sub-specialty model.

“This is something I want to do to increase the efficiency in the department,” Yee explained. “I’m hoping as we sub-specialize that we make our clinical work flow more efficient” which will create more consistency. “Part of what I’d like to do is to help [Shroyer] create a department where it’ll allow the clinical faculty to thrive.”

Yee thinks any work efficiencies will provide researchers with more time to build on their teaching efforts, and to develop new lectures and teaching models.

Yee will measure his success through a comprehensive report that includes an analysis of the efficiency of the response to clinical needs. He hopes to create a system that will enable the success of the entire anatomic pathology division. He will also become actively engaged in the academic mission, which is measured in the number of publications as well as in staff appointments to editorial boards or major national societies.

“The more people we can get into the national arena the better it is for the institution,” Yee said. These contributions bring good public relations and expertise to the institution.

Yee and Allard will also contribute to Stony Brook through their efforts in education.

Yee believes the school has an advantage in telepathology and distance learning. He believes the Department of Bioinformatics led by Dr. Joel Saltz facilitates telepathology and distance learning.

With the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, Yee believes maintaining social distancing and finding innovative ways for communication and education will provide valuable alternatives to communicate and collaborate.  Radiology has had digital methods in place to send MRIs and CAT scans for a longer period of time than pathologists, who still produce glass slides.

“There will always be some challenges and limitations that are unique to pathology,” Yee suggested.

A native of San Francisco, where he and his older brother, who now works in Boston, grew up, Yee was interested in medicine during the middle of his college career.

Yee and Allard met in medical school and, among numerous other parts of their lives they have in common, discovered they were both fans of the Star Wars films. Early on when they were dating, the pathology couple saw Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith together.

Yee enjoys tennis, table tennis, riding road bikes and hiking. He has also developed an appreciation for bird watching, which has allowed him to practice amateur photography.

The couple also shares an interest in music, as Yee grew up playing the piano, while Allard played the trumpet.

When he was in medical school, Yee published his first  paper with Shroyer. He has remained in touch with the pathology chair over the years and appreciates the advice Shroyer has offered.

Yee described Shroyer as an “inspirational leader” and appreciates his energy, selflessness and passion, among other qualities.

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John Flanagan and his father in the assembly circa 1972. The photo is one that the former state senator kept in his office. Photo from John Flanagan

New York recently ended its 48-year streak of having a John Flanagan representative in the State Assembly or Senate.

“I thought about him when I was fighting for school aid for the entire state.”

John Flanagan Jr. retired from public service June 28, after spending 16 years in the Assembly and 18 years in the Senate, which included three years as Senate majority leader. When his political career began, Flanagan Jr. succeeded his father, John Flanagan, who served for 14 years in the state Assembly until 1986.

The younger Flanagan was 25 years old when his father died. Within a week of his father’s death, Flanagan, who, like his father is a Republican, was campaigning for his seat in the Assembly.

“It was a whirlwind of a time,” Flanagan said. “If my father had died a week later, based on what the law was, he would have been on the ballot as someone who was deceased.”

When he started campaigning, he was attending law school at night. When he won the election, he was sworn in in January and got married 10 days later.

Flanagan attributes his ability to stay grounded and deal with all the changes in his life at the beginning of his political career to a collection of people who loved his father and supported and guided him.

Throughout his over three decades in public service, Flanagan often thought of his father, who he describes as his “hero. If I’m going to be like anyone, I wanted to be like him.”

Flanagan sees similarities in their approach to public service, which is something his father and mother emphasized when he was young.

Both Flanagans were passionate believers in education. The senior Flanagan was a teacher for 10 years, while his son chaired an education committee.

“I thought about him when I was fighting for school aid for the entire state,” Flanagan said.

They also shared a commitment to swift and consistent justice for criminals and advocating for victims’ rights.

The younger Flanagan, who is 59 and is a divorced father of three, said he still has energy left in the tank and is eager to embrace his new role as vice president for government affairs at Northwell Health.

“I didn’t leave after 33½ years so I could go back,” Flanagan said.

He is, however, allowed to interact with state agencies and to work locally to help build the brand name in Suffolk County.

As for his work in the Legislature, Flanagan is proud of his efforts on behalf of people who live in group homes, which are, as he put it, “public policy issues that won’t always be on the front page” but are important.

Flanagan felt that taking care of children with special needs was the “ultimate reflection of who we were as a state.”

As a public servant, he felt it was his responsibility to help people feel that the government is there for them and is operating on their behalf.

He is “extraordinarily proud” of the work he did in education, where he felt the need to advocate for children across the state. He said he was “not afraid to mix it up” on anything, in rural, upstate, downstate, urban, suburban or other areas.

Flanagan is also pleased with the work he did to encourage organ donations through Lauren’s Law, which required the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to ask anyone applying for a license to answer the question of whether they would like to be an organ donor.

“There’s not enough legitimate discourse on things the way they should be.”

“We have a lot more work to do and a lot further to go,” Flanagan said. “That’s something I’m going to continue to work on in my new endeavor.”

The greatest part of his political career, he said, was the people. He appreciated meeting the direct care workers, the hospice care workers and the staff with whom he felt privileged to work.

The part he misses the least is the backbiting and not having people always be honest and forthright with him.

While he has seen a collection of people who have left political office in the last few years, he said he can only speak for his retirement.

“Social media and changes in technology have made the economy better, [but] it’s a sound bite world of the highest order,” he said. “There’s not enough legitimate discourse on things the way they should be.”

He also said he doesn’t miss the drives to Albany, which he did for so many years that he’s convinced he went at least a million miles.

Before he left office, he walked around the state capitol, where he took in the architecture and made videos of pictures and paintings and narrated a description he “wanted to share with my family.”

While he said he’s going to miss 90 percent of his working life, he appreciated the joy of being “in the game. Doing the stuff I did, I felt like I was playing for the Yankees and I was in the playoffs. I got to be the majority leader.”

To those who believe he left because the Republicans lost the majority, he says that isn’t the case. He felt like he had a “very good run” and wanted to do other things. He considers himself a part of a select and small group of people who served in the Legislature, in both houses, and who became the majority leader.

He prides himself on his ability to work with so many people and on his consistency.

“I didn’t change my stripes,” he said.

He said he went public with his battle with sobriety. He appreciates the support of people who stood with and by him through those challenges. The low point of checking into rehab also helped bring him to a higher point in his life and career, he said.

Flanagan wanted to ensure that every child, no matter what their community, demographic, background and history had the same opportunities his children had.

Children with special needs have an Individual Education Program, which provides a personalized plan for their specific strengths.

“If education is being done properly, every child should have an IEP,” Flanagan said.

He is pleased with the work he did with Sen. Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), who is also retiring this December, to secure millions of dollars for programs at Stony Brook University.

As for modern politics, Flanagan has mixed feelings about President Donald Trump (R).

“I wish he weren’t on Twitter,” Flanagan said. “He’s done strong things for the economy all across the country. The dialog on both sides should be at a better level.”

Flanagan, who earned his bachelor’s degree from the College of William & Mary and his law degree from Touro Law School, tried never to engage in insults.

“People have a right to expect from elected officials, whether trustees or school board members, to act a certain way,” he said.

“People have a right to expect from elected officials, whether trustees or school board members, to act a certain way.”

When he texts, Flanagan uses full sentences, correct grammar and punctuation and doesn’t use emojis. He believes politicians should use the English language to the greatest effect and to serve as educational role models for their constituents.

Flanagan is a fan of Chairman of the Suffolk County GOP Jesse Garcia, who has “done a great job of being a standard bearer for the party.”

Flanagan mentioned the Town of Babylon supervisor and chair of the county Democratic committee Rich Schaffer as one of his favorite Democrats.

“He and I don’t have to agree,” Flanagan said. “I respect who he is, his work ethic and his experience.”

In his office, Flanagan kept a a 2×7-inch placard that was in his house and also in his father’s office. It read: “God so loved the world that he didn’t send the committee.”

Flanagan said he believes that the saying suggests that “we have a tendency to overcomplicate things.”

For the current public servants just starting their political careers, Flanagan urged them to “be who you are. Do not forget the people you represent. They are the ones who are your bosses. Never lose sight of who you should be representing.”

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Stock photo

While Suffolk County remains well below the level of positive tests for the country as a whole and for states like Florida and Texas, the percentage of positive tests in the area has crept higher than it’s been in recent weeks.

Among 4,517 tests, 84 people tested positive for the coronavirus, which is a 1.9% positive test rate, The positive tests have been tracking closer to 1 percent for the last several days.

“If you attended a party last weekend on July 4 or a larger gathering, be sensitive to how you are feeling,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his almost daily conference call with reporters. “You may want to reconsider visiting friends and family who are vulnerable.”

Given the large number of tests throughout the country, the wait time to get results has increased to five to 10 days, Bellone said.

Additionally, Saheda Iftikhar, the Deputy Commissioner for Department of Health Services, said the time between exposure and a positive test is usually at least 48 hours. That means a person attending a gathering on a Sunday when he or she might have been exposed to someone with the virus should wait until Wednesday before taking a test, to avoid a likely false negative.

The 84 positive results from the July 12 data likely came from tests administered days or even a week earlier, which means that these tests could indicate any increase due to gatherings around Independence Day.

To be sure, Bellone said he doesn’t put too much stock in any one day’s numbers. Nonetheless, he said the county will remain vigilant about monitoring the infection rate over the next few days.

“Be smart,” Bellone urged. “If you attend a gathering in which social distancing or the guidelines may not be strictly adhered to, be very conscious of any symptoms you may have,” Bellone said.

Bellone also urged people to be responsive to calls from the Department of Health, as contact tracers gather confidential information designed to contain any possible spread of the virus.

The other numbers for residents were encouraging.

The number of residents in the hospital was 40, which is a decline from 54 on Friday. The number of people in Intensive Care Unit beds was 14, which is up from 10 from Friday.

Hospital bed occupancy was at 70 percent, while ICU occupancy was at 61 percent.

Hospitals discharged 13 people who had suffered with symptoms related to the virus.

For the last 48 hours, the number of fatalities has been zero. The total number of people who have died from complications related to the coronavirus is 1,993.

Bellone highlighted a financial report from New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, titled “Under Pressure.” The report indicated that, statewide, local sales tax collections declined by 24 percent in April and 32 percent in May.

“Local governments are only beginning to feel the impacts of COVID-19 on their revenue,” Bellone said. Reductions in state aid are still possible, which puts counties cities and less wealthy school districts in an “especially tenuous position.”

Local governments will need to take drastic measures to fill enormous budget gaps. That includes Suffolk County, which may have a deficit as large as $839 million this year.

Separately, as school districts try to figure out how to balance between in-person and remote learning, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) issued guidelines today designed to provide specific targets.

Schools in districts that have reached Phase 4 of the reopening, which includes Suffolk County and where the infection rate is below 5 percent, can reopen. When the positive testing percentage on a rolling 7-day basis exceeds 9 percent should close, Cuomo advised.

School districts will make their decisions about opening between Aug. 1 and Aug. 7.

The governor also announced a new requirement that people traveling into New York from 19 states with rising rates like Florida, California, Kansas, Louisiana and Texas will have to give the state contact information before leaving the airport. Those who fail to do this will receive a summons and face a $2,000 fine

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Long Beach, Smithtown: Visitors to Smithtown’s Long Beach, a narrow land spit, will find an artificial berm to keep stormwater out during the winter. Many of the private roads slightly east of the town beach experience flooding when it’s high tide. Larry Swanson, interim dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, said the cause of the problem is the disruption of sediment due to a combination of rising sea levels and homeowners building sea walls to protect their property. “Long Beach is a spit that needs sediment supplied from the erosion of the bluffs of Nissequogue,” he said. “There are places where the supply is somewhat diminished to maintain sufficient elevation, perhaps where currents are stronger than elsewhere water can overflow.” Photo by Rita J. Egan

With Tropical Storm Fay heading towards Long Island, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said Long Island was expecting rainfall through 3 a.m.

Bellone urged residents to “stay alert” and “secure any loose objects to prevent damage.” He also suggested that people avoid travel and not to attempt to drive over a flooded road.

Residents who want to report outages can text OUT to 773454 (or PSEGLI). Those who can get online can report the outage to PSEGLINY.com or call (800) 490-0075.

The viral numbers continued to remain within the range of their recent low-infection pattern.

Among 6,245 residents who received tests, 62 of them tested positive, for a rate of 1 percent. That brings the total for the county who have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic to 41,711.

The county had 20,301 residents who tested positive for the antibody but who hadn’t had a prior test for the virus.

Hospitalizations rose by two to 54, while the number of people in Intensive Care Unit beds declined by 1 to 10.

Hospital bed occupancy was at 70 percent overall and at 60 percent for ICU beds.

One person died in the last day, increasing the total of losses for families, neighbors and communities to 1,992.

A dozen people were discharged from the hospital in the last day.

Next week, residents can pre-register for antibody tests at three locations. They need to call (833) 433-7369.

Bellone urged the legislature to allow voters to consider two ballot measures that would allow the county to use up to $50 million of funds to plug the budgetary shortfall created by the economic collapse triggered by the lockdown.

“To address this fiscal crisis, we should do everything we possibly can to avoid two things: laying off essential workers and adding significant new tax burdens on our homeowners during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression,” Bellone said on a conference call with reporters.

While some environmental groups have opposed the moves, Bellone said neither measure would “take a dime away from existing environmental programs” and suggested that they were “common sense measures” designed to avoid increasing taxes or laying off essential employees.

The county has to create a budget, which Bellone hopes includes financial help at the federal level, to close a gap that could be as high as $839 million by September.

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