Suffolk County will enter Phase 4 tomorrow of its economic reopening with the tail wind of strong public health numbers.
The new phase “means that certain low-risk outdoor and indoor activity will begin to open up,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said in his daily conference call with reporters. Some arts, entertainment, media and sports will restart.
Residents are permitted to gather in groups of 50, up from the 25 from the previous phase. Houses of worship, meanwhile, can go to 33 percent capacity.
The Long Island Aquarium, the Maritime Museum, and the Children’s Zoo, among others, are all reopening.
“I encourage people to call directly to make sure that the places are open,” Bellone advised. Some of these facilities might have specific restrictions and may have limited hours.
In the last 24 hours, 45 people tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total to 41,730. With 4,226 people tested, the percentage of positive tests was about 1.1 percent.
At the same time, 20,003 have tested positive for the antibody to the virus, indicating that their bodies fought off COVID-19 without a positive test.
Hospitalizations fell six to 57, which is the first time since March that the number of residents who were in the hospital with coronavirus symptoms was below 60. At the same time, the number of people in the Intensive Care Unit was 14, which is a decline of two.
An additional nine people were discharged from the hospital and are continuing their recovery at home.
Hospital bed occupancy was at 64 percent, with ICU bed capacity at 60 percent.
One person died in the last day from complications related to the virus, bringing the total to 1,985.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. File photo by Alex Petroski
Even as Suffolk County prepares for the final phase of its economic reopening this Wednesday, people came to Fire Island during Fourth of July celebrations, where they reportedly violated social distancing and face covering rules.
After all the work to reduce the spread of the virus in Suffolk County and the economic and personal sacrifices designed to save lives, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) was disheartened by images of people on Fire Island and in Montauk who ignored public health rules.
Bringing groups of people within six feet of each other without wearing face coverings is “just dumb,” Bellone said. “It doesn’t make sense. The way that we will undo all of the progress that we have made is to simply stop using common sense.”Such flouting of rules designed to protect the public “is unacceptable” and will result in enforcement actions, Bellone said.
Future incidents in which people don’t follow health guidelines can result in tickets from the police department. The tickets are a Class B Felony.
Bellone urged residents to remain safe so that the county can consider reopening schools and so businesses that have been able to survive the earlier shutdown can continue to rebuild.
The Suffolk County Police Department received 1,160 firework-related calls from Friday through Sunday.
Viral Numbers
The number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 was 43, which represents a 1.1 percent positive rate among the 3,812 people tested.
The total number of people who have tested positive for the virus was 41,685. The number of people who have had a positive antibody test, who have not had symptoms of the disease but whose bodies have developed antibodies, is 19,978.
Hospitalizations declined by three to 63, while the number of people in the Intensive Care Units was 16, which is also down by three.
Hospital bed use was at 64 percent. The occupancy of ICU beds was at 56 percent.
Over the last day, 13 people were discharged from Suffolk County hospitals.
One person died from complications related to COVID-19. The total number of deaths for Suffolk County increased to 1,984.
Residents prepare July Fourth at-home firework shows in Port Jefferson Station in 2018. Photo by Kyle Barr
A man in Port Jefferson Station was injured just after 10 p.m. last night when he attempted to light a firework that explored and injured one of his eyes.
Carlos Diaz, 29, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious, but not life threatening injuries.
Additionally, a 29-year old man in Central Islip was severely wounded in the hand from an exploding firework. The man was at home on Tamarack Street when the injury occurred around 9:10 p.m. He was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital.
“Every year, we do these reminders and talk about the dangers of fireworks,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said in his daily media call. He shared his hopes that both people injured by fireworks will recover.
Suffolk County Police Department Chief Stuart Cameron said the county did have a higher incidence of fireworks-related calls, due to the limitations on large crowds at the usual fireworks shows.
While the number rose, he said the increase in Nassau County was “much higher.”
Earlier in the day, at 5:30 p.m., Second Precinct officers responded to a fire at the Rodeway Inn in Huntington Station. Canine officers located Raymond Pond, 50, whom they are holding overnight and charging with Arson in the second degree. Pond, who is a resident of the Inn, also has two outstanding warrants. While people were at the Inn when it caught fire, the police reported no injuries.
Viral Numbers
For the fifth time in the last seven days, Suffolk County reported no deaths from complications related to COVID-19. This lower mortality rate puts the county in a good position to reach Phase 4 of its reopening plan this Wednesday.
“We are moving into the new week in very good shape,” Bellone said. The low mortality rate is a “credit to everyone who has done amazing work in this county,” including by the public who he said has, mostly, abided by rules regarding social distancing and face coverings.
The number of new positive tests was 57, which brings the total number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus to 41,642.
An additional 19,960 people have tested positive for the antibody.
Hospitalizations declined by four to 66. The number of people in the Intensive Care Unit increased by two to 19.
Hospital bed occupancy was at 67 percent, while the percent of ICU beds in use was 60 percent.
In the last day, 10 people were discharged from county hospitals.
Diabetic retinopathy is an umbrella term for microvascular complications of diabetes that can lead to blurred vision and blindness. There are at least three different disorders that comprise it: dot and blot hemorrhages, proliferative diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. The latter two are the ones most likely to cause vision loss. Our focus for this article will be on diabetic retinopathy as a whole and on diabetic macular edema, more specifically.
Diabetic retinopathy is the number one cause of vision loss in those who are 25 to 74 years old (1). Risk factors include duration of diabetes, glucose (sugar) that is not well-controlled, smoking, high blood pressure, kidney disease, pregnancy and high cholesterol (2).
What is diabetic macula edema, also referred to as DME? Its signature is swelling caused by extracellular fluid accumulating in the macula (3). The macula is the region of the eye with greatest visual acuity. A yellowish oval spot in the central portion of the retina — in the inner segment of the back of the eye —it is sensitive to light. When fluid builds up from leaking blood vessels, there is potential for vision loss.
Those with the longest duration of diabetes have the greatest risk of DME (4). Unfortunately, many patients are diagnosed with DME after it has already caused vision loss. If not treated early, patients can experience permanent loss of vision (5). Herein lies the challenge.
In a cross-sectional study (a type of observational study) using NHANES data from 2005-2008, among patients with DME, only 45 percent were told by a physician that diabetes had affected their eyes (6). Approximately 46 percent of patients reported that they had not been to a diabetic nurse educator, nutritionist or dietician in more than a year — or never.
The problem is that the symptoms of vision loss don’t necessarily occur until the latter stages of the disorder. According to the authors, there needs to be an awareness campaign about the importance of getting your eyes examined on an annual basis if you have diabetes. Many patients are unaware of the association between vision loss and diabetes.
Treatment options
While DME is traditionally treated with lasers, intravitreal (intraocular — within the eye) injections of a medication known as ranibizumab (Lucentis) may be as effective.
The results from a randomized controlled trial, the gold standard of studies, showed that intravitreal (delivery directly into the eye) injections with ranibizumab, whether given prompt laser treatments or treatments delayed for at least 24 weeks, were equally effective in treating DME (7).
Increased risk with diabetes drugs
You would think that drugs to treat type 2 diabetes would prevent DME from occurring as well. However, in the THIN trial, a retrospective (backward-looking) study, a class of diabetes drugs, thiazolidinediones, which includes Avandia and Actos, actually increased the occurrence of DME compared to those who did not use these oral medications (8). Those receiving these drugs had a 1.3 percent incidence of DME at year one, whereas those who did not had a 0.2 percent incidence. This incidence was persistent through the 10 years of follow-up. [Note that DME is not the only side effect of these drugs. There are important FDA warnings of other significant issues.]
To make matters worse, those who received both thiazolidinediones and insulin had an even greater incidence of DME. There were 103,000 diabetes patients reviewed in this trial. It was unclear whether the drugs, because they were second-line treatments, or the severity of the diabetes itself may have caused these findings.
This is in contrast to a previous ACCORD eye sub-study, a cross-sectional analysis, which did not show an association between thiazolidinediones and DME (9). This study involved review of 3,473 participants who had photographs taken of the fundus (the back of the eye).
What does this ultimately mean? Both of these studies were not without weaknesses. It was not clear how long the patients had been using the thiazolidinediones in either study or whether their sugars were controlled and to what degree. The researchers were also unable to control for all other possible confounding factors (10). Thus, there needs to be a prospective (forward-looking) trial done to sort out these results.
Diet
The risk of progression of diabetic retinopathy was significantly lower with intensive blood sugar controls using medications, one of the few positive highlights of the ACCORD trial (11). Medication-induced intensive blood sugar control also resulted in increased mortality and no significant change in cardiovascular events. But an inference can be made: A nutrient-dense, plant-based diet that intensively controls blood sugar is likely to decrease the risk of diabetic retinopathy complications (12, 13).
The best way to avoid diabetic retinopathy is obviously to prevent diabetes. Barring that, it’s to have sugars well-controlled. If you or someone you know has diabetes, it is imperative that they get a yearly eye exam from an ophthalmologist so that diabetic retinopathy is detected as early as possible, before permanent vision loss occurs. It is especially important for those diabetes patients who are taking the oral diabetes class thiazolidinediones.
Dr. David Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com.
As Suffolk County prepares to enter Phase 4 of its economic reopening, the county has reported the lowest number of weekly fatalities since March.
For for the fourth time in six days, no one died from complications related to COVID-19, which is a pattern County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said he hopes continues as the county fights to hold its hard-earned gains from the lockdown and new rules designed to protect public health.
The number of people who have died from the virus remained at 1,983.
“This is a real reflection of how far we have come,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters. “All the sacrifices are ultimately about saving people’s lives.”
The number of people who tested positive for the virus was 47, bringing the total to 41,585. That represents 1.1 percent of the tests given over the last day.
Hospitalizations declined by three to 7. The number of people in the Intensive Care Unit who are battling the virus fell by three to 17. The two-day decline at the ICU was 10.
Hospital occupancy was at 68 percent, while ICU bed capacity was at 61 percent, both of which are within safe guidelines for continuing to march forward with reopening.
The number of people who were discharged from the hospital was five.
Fireworks in Port Jefferson for Independence Day 2019. Photo by David Ackerman
As the county prepares for a Fourth of July following a painful spring, county officials and health care providers reminded residents to remain safe during fireworks displays and to continue to follow health guidelines.
Steve Sandoval, Associate Professor of Surgery and Medical Director of the Suffolk County Volunteer Firefighters Burn Center at Stony Brook University Hospital, urged residents to be cautious around fireworks and barbecues.
The best way to avoid injuries is to “prevent the burn in the first place with safety tips and precautions to eliminate potential dangers,” Sandoval said in a statement.
The Suffolk County Volunteer Firefighters Burn Center offered 10 tips, which included viewing fireworks used by professionals, not leaving hot coals or fire pits, not using the stove top, fire pit or fireplace when residents are tired or have had alcohol.
“If burned, do you go anywhere but a facility that specializes in burn treatment,” Sandoval said.
The Suffolk County Police Department, meanwhile, warned residents of counterfeit oxycodone. Detectives recently seized pills that bear the markings of 30 mg of oxycodone but that were fentanyl instead, which is 1,000 times more potent than morphine. Ingestion can cause overdose and death. The department warned residents that people buying these pills may not be able to distinguish between the counterfeit pills and prescription oxycodone.
Viral Numbers
After two days without a death related to complications from COVID-19, two residents died in the past 24 hours. The total number of residents who have died from the virus is 1,983.
The number of new infections over the last day was 47, bringing the total to 41,538. Gregson Pigott, the Commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, said new infections crossed a whole spectrum of ages and included people in their 20’s.
The county distributed 30,000 pieces of personal protective equipment over the last day.
After the success of drive in movies at the Smithpoint County Park, the county is opening a second site for movies, at the Suffolk County Community College on the Grant Campus in Brentwood. The series will include “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” July 8, “The Karate Kid” July 9, “Matilda” on the 10th and “Back to the Future” on the 11th. Residents interested in getting free tickets can register through suffolkcountyny.gov/driveinmovies.
Pictured above, from left, Paige Hubbard, office manager; Councilman Neil Foley; Dr. Rohit Reejsinghani; Councilman Timothy Hubbard; Catrina Grefe, NP; Dr. Vishnu Seodat; Councilwoman Jodi Giglio; Councilwoman Catherine Kent; Tina Toulon, physician liaison for NYCBS; and Amanda Brown, medical assistant. Photo courtesy of New York Health
New York Health (NYHealth) recently announced the addition of family physician Dr. Vishnudat Seodat. To celebrate the opening of his two new offices — at 6144 Route 25A, Suite 19 in Wading River and 32645 Main Road, Suite 7-8 in Cutchogue — a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the Wading River location on June 25.
The event was attended by the Executive Director of New York Health, Dr. Rohit Reejsinghani; Brookhaven Town Councilman Neil Foley: Riverhead Town Councilmembers Catherine Kent, Jodi Giglio and Timothy Hubbard; and members of the staff and community.
Dr. Vishnudat is presented with a Certificate of Congratulations from the Town of Riverhead. Photo courtesy of New York Health
“At the end of the day, New York Health is really about patient care and having the basis of a large group of patients with such a great practitioner in this area really compliments our group very well so we are very happy to have Dr. Seodat on board and we think this is going to be a successful operation moving forward,” said Dr. Reejsinghani.
“As a child, I developed pneumonia which led to a house call from my family physician. The physician did not accept payment from my family for the appointment due to my less fortunate financial living conditions at the time,” said Dr. Seodat. Inspired by the physician’s compassion, Dr. Seodat navigated his life so that he could become a doctor for everyone. “My journey began as a nurse and a pharmacist dispenser before traveling to New York to earn my degree in medicine.”
Working alongside him for the past two years is Adult-Geri Nurse Practitioner, Catrina Grefe, MS, RN-BC, AGNP-C. “Patients can feel confident with me as their practitioner, and I am eager to deliver high-quality care to patients on the East End,” she said.
“Supervisor Yvette Aguiar of the Town of Riverhead together with the entire town board extend their best wishes for success to New York Health Family Medicine … on the opening of your new practice in Wading River. We look forward to having your quality of business in our town and wish you great success,” said Councilman Hubbard before presenting Dr. Seodat with a Certificate of Congratulations.
“This ribbon cutting ceremony, in my mind, signifies not only the clearing of a barrier but to open a new door and the birth of a new venture with New York Health,” said Dr. Seodat. “It offers an opportunity to expand medical care … to the East End of Long Island. I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to partner with this multidisciplinary group and I hope to set the standard for family practice and primary care in this community and many other communities on Long Island.”
To make an appointment with Dr. Seodat or Catrina Grefe, please call 631-758-7003.
After months in which COVID deaths robbed families throughout Suffolk County of grandparent, parents, siblings, sons and daughters, the county reported no deaths from the virus for the second time in three days.
“From where we’ve been to where we are today is a world of difference,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on a daily conference call he’s conducted with reporters since the third week of March. “The last two out of three days is a good indicator of where we are and the positive direction we continue to move in.”
Bellone described the other numbers for the virus as “also very good.”
The number of new positive tests was 42, out of a total of 4,047. The positive tests represented about 1 percent of tests, which is about the recent rate. The total number of positive tests since the pandemic began in the county stands at 41,420.
The number of residents who have the antibody but haven’t had a positive test stands at 19,270.
The number of hospitalizations was one of the few figures that moved in an unfavorable direction, as seven additional people entered the hospital with COVID-19, bringing the total to 73.
The number of people in the Intensive Care Unit declined by one.
Hospital bed use was at 70 percent, with 57 percent of ICU beds occupied.
An additional six people were discharged from the hospital. The county distributed 34,000 pieces of personal protective equipment over the last day.
Finally, Bellone is hosting a webinar on July 7th at 10 am to provide information to residents interested in entering the food truck business.
“Outdoor dining has proven successful during the COVID-19 pandemic, and food trucks are uniquely positioned to adapt to the challenges posed by this crisis,” Bellone said in a statement.
Suffolk County currently has 228 mobile vending vehicles, which offer food, coffee and dessert. The webinar is a part of Suffolk Count’s Business Recovery Unit. Residents interested in attending the webinar can register here.
Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip. Photo from LI Ducks website
The Long Island Ducks will not take the field this season, as New York State wouldn’t allow the baseball team to allow fans to attend an abbreviated season.
While Major League Baseball teams, at least for now, can make a shortened season work without fans because of television and advertising revenue, the Ducks couldn’t make a fan-free season work.
“I’m disappointed the Ducks won’t be on the field,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters. Bellone had hoped that the state would support capacity limits, especially in an outdoor environment which would lower the risk from the transmission of COVID-19.
Bellone said the state’s decision with the Ducks shouldn’t have any impact on youth sports, in which parents are hoping to watch their children return to fields after their sons and daughters spent months away from the competition, the teammates, and the opportunity to enjoy summer games and competition.
Viral Numbers
The number of residents who tested positive for the coronavirus was 46, bringing the total to 41,386. A total of 3,312 people were tested, which means 1.4% of the tests had a positive result, which is among the higher levels of positive tests in recent weeks.
While the percentage is higher than it’s been recently, Bellone said he doesn’t put too much stock in any one day’s results.
Hospitalizations declined by six, with 66 residents now hospitalized with COVID-19. That is the first time since March that the number of people battling against the virus in the hospital was below 70.
The number of people in the Intensive Care Unit with symptoms from the virus increased by one to 24.
Hospital capacity remained below pre-set caution levels. Overall hospital occupancy was at 67%, while ICU bed occupancy was at 59%.
Nine people were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours.
After a day without any fatalities from complications related to COVID-19, two people died in the last day. The death toll from the coronavirus stands at 1,981.
The county distributed 5,000 pieces of personal protective equipment in the last 24 hours.
For the first time since June 12, Suffolk County reported no deaths from COVID-19.
“I do hope and pray that it will not be another 17 days for me to be reporting zero deaths again,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily call with reporters. “Hopefully, this is the start of something we will continue to see.”
The total number of deaths from the virus in the county remained at 1,979.
The number of positive tests, meanwhile, was 33, bringing the total to 41,339. With 4,481 people receiving tests in the past day, the positive tests were among the lowest the county has had in weeks, at 0.7 percent.
The number of people who tested positive for the antibody who didn’t have a positive COVID-19 test was 19,074.
Hospitalizations continued to trend slightly lower. The number of people in the hospital overall fell by three to 72. The number of people in Intensive Care Units with COVID-19 also declined by three to 23.
Hospital bed occupancy was at 68 percent, down from 70 percent the day before. ICU bed occupancy was at 62 percent.
An additional 20 people were discharged from the hospital in the last day.
Separately, the county announced a plan, starting today, to walk back some protective measures put in place for Suffolk County Transit. In March, the county asked residents to use fast fare. Busses did not take cash, riders had to board from the back of the bus, and residents needed to leave the first few rows of the bus vacant to protect drivers.
Now that the county is in Phase 3, Suffolk County Transit has re-instituted front door boarding and will accept cash, even as it is encouraging riders to use the mobile app.
The county has provided protective barriers on all busses to keep the drivers safe from infection. Riders are still required to wear face coverings until further notice.
Finally, officers in the Third Precinct arrested Pablo Figuero, a convicted sex offender, last night at 10:20 pm. He was found in a parked car on Suffolk Avenue in Central Islip and was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7th Degree. He was taken for arraignment today and will be held in jail. Bellone said he is wanted out of New Mexico.
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