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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said today while 25 people have died due to COVID-19 in the past day, New York State data shows the county’s total deaths related to COVID-19 jumped by 226 since last reported two days ago. The total deaths jumped from 1,296 to 1,522.

“This number lists numbers of people who may have been presumed COVID positive,” Bellone said. “This includes persons who were from nursing homes who are now added to that list.”

While from May 3 to May 5, the numbers of deaths the state reported from nursing homes jumped by only around 30, the spike is a prodding reminder the final death toll from the virus could be much higher than what residents are currently seeing in daily reports. The county executive said it will take time before we finally get the full and clear picture.

“We have been talking about this for weeks, that the official numbers being reported are under what the full amount will be. If I had to say we won’t’ know the full number until after this is over and we are looking back.”

804 more people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 39,789 in Suffolk. Antibody testing initiatives have resulted in 3,531 being confirmed to have the antibodies, with those numbers being added to the list of confirmed cases.

Otherwise, Suffolk County is continuing to see a downward trend in overall hospitalizations, with 54 less people in hospitals bringing the total to 719.

“We seem to be back on our downward trend for hospitalizations,” Bellone said.

Though hospitalizations decreased, the numbers of ICU patients went up by six to a total of 301. 

Hospital capacity is sitting at 3,062 beds, with 841 available. That puts Suffolk at 73 percent capacity, which is slightly above reopening targets of 70 percent. For ICU beds 600, 180 are available, which is right at the required 70 percent. 88 people in the last 24 hours have been discharged from the hospital and are recovering at home.

These data points are paths county officials are closely following, as they are the leading to a path that could hopefully begin the reopening process for Suffolk. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) New York Pause order is set to expire May 15, though the governor has expressed multiple times that upstate regions, which were hurt much less than the city, Nassau and Suffolk, will likely begin reopening first. 

Either way, the county executive said progress is being made on reopening efforts. With six different committees working on different aspects and plans, some task forces are making headway. The county said it would release a resource guide for businesses on reopening, working in everything from federal and state resources to what’s currently available on the local level. That guide can be found at suffolkcountyny.gov/bru which should be available before the end of the day May 7.

Meanwhile, Cuomo announced further relief efforts for renters, preventing them from being evicted due to not being able to pay rent from now until Aug. 20.

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Amanda Groveman, a Stony Brook Medicine Quality Management Practitioner, holding a "My Story" poster for Kevin, who enjoys bowling among his hobbies. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

Patients battling COVID-19 at Stony Brook University Hospital have allies who can see them and their lives outside the context of the current pandemic.

Thanks to a team of nurses at Stony Brook who are calling family members to gather information and putting together pictures the family members are sending, over 89 patients have received the kind of personalized support they might have gotten if their family and friend network were allowed in the hospital during the pandemic.

“You get everything,” said Amanda Groveman, a Stony Brook Medicine Quality Management Practitioner, who has worked at the hospital since 2006 and created a Power Point template for the information. Family members are sending pictures at of them during Christmas, of people playing various sports, of pets, of other family members, and even a wedding picture from the 1930’s.

Once the nurses gather this information, they print out two copies and laminate them. One copy goes in the room, where the patient can also see it, and the other is in the hallway, where the doctor or nurse who is about to walk in can get a broader look at the life of the patient in the bed on the other side of the door.

The effort, called “My Story,” is an extension of a similar initiative at the hospital for patients who have Alzheimer’s Disease and might also have trouble sharing their lives with the health care workers.

The nurses involved in the program include: Chief of Regulatory Affairs Carolyn Santora, Assistant Director of Nursing Susan Robbins, Director of Quality Management Grace Propper, Lisa Reagan, the patient coordinator and Nurse Practitioner April Plank.

“It’s not just a bullet point checklist,” Groveman said. “It’s creating a history of this patient.”

Some patients like to hear a particular type of music. Indeed, one patient routinely listened to so much “Willie Nelson, that was all he wanted to listen to.”

Grovemen said the contact with the family also connects the nurses to that family’s support network, which they now aren’t able to see in eerily empty waiting rooms.

“You speak to these families and then you feel like you do know this person well,” Groveman said. “At a certain point, it’s not just about the patient. It’s about the whole support system. You’re pulling not just for them, but for their whole family.”

The pictures serve as an inspiration for the nurses as well, who get to share their passion for pets or for sports teams.

These connections are especially important, as some patients have been in the ICU for weeks.

Each time a person leaves the hospital, the staff plays the Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun,” which has also been encouraging to the hospital staff who has been treating them.

When Groveman returns to her family, which includes her husband Matt and their two children, each night, she puts her clothing in the washing machine and takes a shower before she enjoys her own family time.

“As soon as I walk in, they say, ‘No hug yet,’” Groveman said. Her kids have been “really good” about the new nightly pattern.

A by product of her new routine is that Groveman has also been washing her hands and wrists so often that she has developed what her daughter calls “lizard skin.”

She insists on disinfecting everything that comes in the house, which means that she has a collection of cardboard boxes on her porch that wait there until recycling day.

Amid all the public health struggles she and her fellow nurses see every day, she appreciates how Stony Brook has set up a room where nurses can meditate and relax.

Groveman said she’s surprised by the number of people who are coming in who are in their 30’s and 40’s. One of the more challenging elements of caring for patients is, for her, that she sees people who come in who are not in bad shape, but “unfortunately, with this, it can just be all of a sudden someone takes a downturn.”

Groveman had previously worked in pediatrics, where she said she recognized that any treatment for children also benefited the broader family.

“You are treating the family as well,” she said. “You really want to make that connection. Being a nurse is about making that connection.”

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Port Jefferson Village Mayor Margot Garant. File Photo

On a daily update video, Mayor Margot Garant announced the village would be closing all on-street Main Street weekend parking starting Mother’s Day weekend, May 9 and 10.

Main Street in Port Jefferson empty of traffic on a weekday. Photo by Sapphire Perara

The mayor cited the two hospitals within village bounds, St. Charles and Mather, with “hundreds of residents on the front lines on a daily basis.” Two weeks ago, Suffolk County Police said they issued a summons answerable to the village to a man they said allegedly wasn’t obeying social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. The mayor said at the time people in Harborfront Park were being “belligerent” to code enforcement and police alike and were refusing to both wear masks and keep apart.

Reports of groups of motorcyclists gathering together on main street, and other pedestrian traffic with people not wearing masks, have left officials concerned that residents and visitors are possibly spreading COVID-19 as warmer weather incentivizes more outdoor activity. 

All businesses are limited to curbside pickups on the weekend. Code enforcement will be patrolling “in an army,” the mayor said, to enforce social distancing directives, as well as checking in on businesses to make sure they are also following guidelines stating no sit-down eating.

On Sunday, the village is bringing back the farmers market, this time in a new location in the parking lot behind what was once the Gap clothing store, just north of Arden Pl. New guidelines dictate cars can only pull one way in and one way out, and all visitors must be wearing a mask. Only one person is allowed at a stall at a time. Guidelines may change, the mayor said, if rules aren’t followed.

“It’s going to be a test — it’s going to be up to you,” she said.

Otherwise, village beaches remain open to Port Jeff residents, and all cars are asked for residents’ identifications before they can park.

 

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One number is a dot. Two numbers form a line. Three data points, all moving in the same direction is a trend. The description is a journalistic axiom, which isn’t always true even with three numbers, but it’s one County Executive Steve Bellone (D) was hoping he wouldn’t see.

After two days of small increases in hospitalizations, with a rise of four on Monday and a gain of 18 on Tuesday, Bellone was looking for the numbers would change direction.

He got his wish, and then some, as the number of hospitalizations from COVID-19 fell by 62 to 773.

The downward trend “has returned” and is a “great result today,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters.

Officials at Suffolk County have been hoping to meet a number of metrics that are necessary to consider a phased reopening of the economy.

Helping to lower the number of hospitalizations was a return to the trend among patients discharged, with 85 people leaving the hospital in the last day, which is well above the numbers who returned home in the previous two days to continue their recoveries.

The county is hovering near the hospital capacity of 70 percent for overall beds and for Intensive Care Unit beds.

Hospitals admitted 43 new patients in the last day due to DOVID-19, which is above the 30 the county or lower the county is hoping to hit.

Simon Properties, the owners of locations like SmithHaven Mall in Lake Grove, had originally said in a memo dated May 6 it planned to open its New York locations, including the two listed, only a day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) New York Pause order expires. The company has since stated online it does not intend to open up its properties, and will comply with state and local guidelines.

Businesses like the malls will “follow executive orders, which are lawful orders,” Bellone added.

While downstate regions have not met the U.S. Centers For Disease Control requirements to open their economies, Brookhaven town is set to reopen some marinas, following limited opening of beaches last week. Marinas include Port Jefferson Harbor and Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai, amidst several others on the South Shore.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to increase in the county, with 733 additional people testing positive for the virus over the last day, bringing the total to 38,985.

As of press time, Governor Cuomo’s office hadn’t updated the fatality data connected to the virus.

Testing in hotspots such as Wyananch and Huntington Station continues, with 1,097 positive tests coming back from 2,651 results, for a 41 percent positive rate, which is still above the 34.6 percent rate for the county.

Separately, Bellone, along with Suffolk County Police Department Commissioner Geraldine Hart, announced a dedicated line for phone scams, 631-852-SCAM (or 7226). Residents can report any scam attempts to this line. The phones will be staffed from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.

“If someone is asking you to send them money, check with relatives or authorities before you do that,” Bellone cautioned.

In response to concerns raised about the potential rise in child abuse amid the lockdown, Bellone said the Department of Social Services is “aware” that situations in families that had issues before are “not going to get better in crisis situations.” He said there had been increased staffing at DSS to handle any future reports or increases.

Finally, as of yesterday, the number of police officers who have tested positive for COVID-19 was 87, with 77 of them returning to work.

*Update: Simon Properties has since said they are not reopen its New York malls come May 16. The following is what was originally included in the article.

With Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) New York Pause set to expire on May 15, Simon Properties indicated today that it planned to reopen the Walt Whitman Shops in South Huntington and the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove.

Those high traffic malls have been mostly vacant since the start of the pandemic, while Simon Properties list multiple COVID safety protocols, including preemptive employee screening, occupancy limitations and monitoring while encouraging social distancing, officials were not ready to give the malls the green light.

“All indications are that there will be some extension” in New York Pause, at least for Suffolk County, Bellone said. He anticipates a phased reopening may start sooner in upstate New York, which hasn’t been hit as hard as New York City and Long Island.

Businesses like the malls will “follow executive orders, which are lawful orders,” Bellone added.*

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Richard Hoey’s son Kevin lives in a Central Islip residential home, and he said its high time facilities like his son’s receives targeted testing. Photo from Hoey

Port Jefferson resident Richard Hoey’s son Kevin lives in a Central Islip residential home for the developmentally disabled. Kevin is diagnosed as intellectually disabled with Down syndrome, autism, behavioral disorders and is developmentally delayed. His mobility is confined to a wheelchair. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, 21-year-old Kevin has been largely confined to the facility. Family has only been able to communicate with their son via video chat, in which Hoey said Kevin’s attention span is “minimal.” 

“Kids in residential homes, they are all not able to protect themselves.”

— Richard Hoey

“Look to see him, he doesn’t recognize inside that little square TV screen,” Hoey said.

The issue, the parent said, is simply not knowing. Though he said the facility, Eaton Knolls, one run by United Cerebral Palsy of Long Island, has largely been communicative of current goings-on, two staff and one resident have tested positive for the virus. Though staff has been wearing personal protective equipment, they have been “low on the totem pole” in receiving masks and gloves.

“Kids in residential homes, they are all not able to protect themselves,” Hoey said. “They have no idea the dangers with sneezing, coughing or licking things. And they’ll never have any idea about it.”

The Port Jeff resident and his family have created a Change.org petition saying that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) should take similar action to Massachusetts and mandate testing at long-term care facilities, such as residential, veteran and nursing homes, for all staff and residents. 

The petition, change.org/p/andrew-m-cuomo-save-my-son-s-life-new-york-group-homes-need-mandatory-covid-19-testing, has already raised over 1,000 signatures since it started Friday, May 1.

The site is operated through the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, which sets the rules and regulations for facilities such as UCPLI. 

Camille Schramm, the director of development and public relations for UCPLI, said her company, which was mandated to close every service except for the residential homes since March 17, has struggled to get their hands on the necessary PPE. Through donations and requisitions they’ve managed to procure enough masks and gloves for now, but they have struggled to receive the necessary number of gowns.

Otherwise, facilities like hers “should be in the top 10” of long-term care organizations that need targeted testing. Residents cannot simply go to the local pharmacy to get tested, a plan the governor said is currently in the works. Many have major communication problems and mobility issues. Many are confined to wheelchairs.

UCP would not release the number of people at their 31 facilities who have tested positive for the virus, citing resident and family confidentiality, though she said they have fared better than others in the field.

“We’ve been hit, but not as hard as some of the other agencies on the Island due to the safety protocols and precautions we have in place,” Schramm said. 

Currently, the policy for staff who present symptoms isthat they are sent home for at least two weeks and they require a doctor’s note to be allowed back in. After learning of a positive case, UCPLI brought in a company to clean and sanitize the facility, which Schramm said is “costly, especially considering the number of homes we have.” 

For residents that start to show symptoms, they are self-isolated in their rooms. Though if they start to display problems with breathing, they are sent to hospitals where many remain because many also have compromised immunities. 

“They are part of an underserved demographic population that are very challenged by something like this,” Schramm said.

At the end of March, Massachusetts deployed National Guard technicians to long-term care facilities to attempt to test all workers and residents across the state, though things have only ramped up since then. After an April 27 $130,000 state funding plan, the National Guard has completed more than 28,000 tests at 525 care facilities in Massachusetts, according to The Boston Globe. Though the Bay State is ranked 10th in overall nursing home population, currently New York is ranked at the top with over 101,000 patients.

The OPWDD issued a statement saying testing is being prioritized for people receiving supports from OPWDD or service providers who display symptoms, adding that the state “continues to expand testing opportunities as new tests and locations become available.”

“OPWDD is taking the threat of COVID-19 to the people we support and the broader community very seriously and has activated our emergency response team to closely monitor all reports of possible contact within our system across the state,” the statement read. “All staff are fully trained on infection control practices and OPWDD has released guidance to staff and voluntary provider agencies regarding visitation, PPE use and quarantine protocols at our facilities. OPWDD monitors levels of PPE in all of our community residences, both state and provider operated, and has created a 24-hour emergency services number for providers and staff to contact when issues arise.” 

Residential facilities, mostly nursing homes of adult care facilities, have come under severe scrutiny since it was revealed a huge portion of COVID-19-related deaths have come from these places that house some of the most at-risk populations. As of May 5, New York State reported nearly 20 percent, or 4,813 deaths, in New York have come from these locations. Suffolk County has suffered 593, but many suspect COVID-19 deaths have gone unreported at these locations, and deaths may be even higher.

Hoey said targeted testing is the best way to stymie the growing number of deaths at these facilities.

“That will knock down the death rates,” he said. “The only reason [Cuomo is] not doing it because there’s no pressure for him to do this. “

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Bud Conway and Kalpana Astras outside the camper where Nic Astras is staying during the ongoing pandemic. Photo by Kyle Barr

At the end of a grueling 12 hour shift as an internal medicine resident at Long Island Community Hospital in East Patchogue, Setauket resident Nicolas Astras can’t simply enter his home, put his feet up on the couch and relax, not anymore, not since the pandemic hit Long Island hospitals like a tidal wave. 

Drawings Kalpana’s daughter drew for her father. Photo by Kyle Barr

He has a wife and three kids, ages 13, 10 and 5. For all he knows, he is covered in COVID-19. If he wanted to go in and take off his clothes and shower, he knows he could potentially spread the virus to other parts of the house and to his family members.

Astras’ wife, Kalpana, said her husband had few choices. He could have lived in an unused hotel room or house, but that would have been a bitter and depressing pill to swallow, having nobody to come home to, nobody to talk to. 

Then, Kalpana said after friends referred her to Facebook group RVs 4 MDs, the family was given a third option, one that while nowhere near as good as getting to be home with the family, it would offer a degree of separation and homeyness, despite the need to be separated.

“It has given us an area where he can be secluded from us so he cannot give us anything,” Kalpana said. “It makes him feel safe that he’s not spreading it.”

From the street, it seems like the Grey Wolf camper parked in Nicolas and Kalpana Astras’ Setauket driveway would just be a summer getaway vehicle. Though now it has become a saving grace. It belongs to Bud Conway, a Farmingville resident who heard about the Facebook group through a family member. Not having an account, he signed up and put his name down as having a camper. Soon, he was linked with the Astras family, and that was that.

Kalpana, who herself is still working full time at a clinical trials company, takes in her husband’s clothes to be washed, trying to be careful around them. She also stocks up the fridge and makes meals for the doctor when he goes to work. Every time she enters the camper, she wears an N95 mask and is careful when touching anything.

Though it’s not completely isolated. The daughter’s bedroom overlooks the driveway on the second floor, and when the husband walks out to get air in the morning, the daughter talks with him and connects.

Despite how thankful the family is, Conway said it wasn’t much, even with him and an electrician friend traveling there to help fix the camper when something was broken. With him not using it, he said it was the least he could do.

“I’m not the hero here,” he said. “It’s just a camper, not a kidney.”

RVs 4 MDs started March 24 as just Texan Emily Phillips, the wife of an emergency room physician, was convinced to ask the community if anyone had an RV for her husband. Days later she founded the Facebook group,which has since blown out into a nation-spanning movement to connect camper and trailer owners to doctors who need to be able to self-quarantine.

But over a month since that started, as the number of hospitalized patients decline in the county, officials say there is some hope on the horizon. But for hospital workers still in the midst of it, the silver linings usually come not from thinking of work, but with communicating with the family.

“Yesterday he said they extubated some patients, which is good news — it’s a flicker of good news,” Kalpana said. “It’s really to boost his morale, to keep him home with us.”

Inside the camper, a number of index cards lay on the table in the suffused light. They show pictures of rainbows, hearts and messages saying, “We love You” and “Your Our Hero,” all from his kids.

“My 10-year-old, her way of coping is with art,” Kalpana said. “Every time I come in with food, she does artwork, and he just collects them on the table.”

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Despite the worrisome sign that net hospitalizations rose for a second straight day in Suffolk County, the area has still met one of the qualifications for a phased reopening.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that hospitals in an area have a three-day moving average where the number of hospitalizations from COVID-19 declines.

Over the last day, the number of hospitalizations from the coronavirus rose by 18, after inching up by four on Monday, bringing the total to 835 people. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Sunday had declined by 38, which means the three day moving average was a decline of over five people.

“The fact that we’ve had two days in a row of increasing hospitalizations is definitely something I’m concerned about,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters. He doesn’t “want to see that trend continuing.”

For the second consecutive day as well, the number of people who were discharged from the hospital increased at a slower pace than it had in the last few weeks, with 37 people heading home to continue their recovery.

“Is this an indication that the people that are in the hospitals, which would be common sense, are people who are more sick?” Bellone said. He suggested that would be “logical,” although he doesn’t have any specific indication behind the numbers about why the net hospitalizations have climbed amid conspicuously lower discharges.

While Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has discussed a phased reopening of the state on May 15, when New York Pause ends, the decision of when to open different regions will depend on the data from those area. Upstate, for example, hasn’t been hit as hard as downstate areas like Nassau and Suffolk County.

“We are doing the work to prepare for that reopening downstate,” Bellone said. While the county executive is hopeful Suffolk County could open as soon as possible, he said the county would have to hit a range of metrics to make that possible.

These measures include a 70 percent or lower use of hospital beds, which is about where the county stands now. That, however, does not include elective surgeries, which, once they start picking up again, will require some hospital bed usage.

Additionally, the number of new hospitalizations in Suffolk County will need to be 30 or lower based on a three-day rolling average. Over the last 24 hours, the number of new hospitalizations from COVID-19 was 50.

“We’re not there yet,” Bellone said.

Amid ongoing testing throughout the county, including in seven hotspot testing sites, the number of new positive tests climbed to 715 to 38,252. The percentage of positive tests is 34.6 percent.

On the positive side, the number of people in the Intensive Care Unit declined by seven, as the number of intubations also fell.

“That’s a very good sign,” Bellone said.

The number of people who have died from complications related to coronavirus climbed by 23, bringing the total to 1,296.

“We know the terrible grief and tragedies that this virus has wrought upon our community,” Bellone said, as residents “haven’t been able to grieve in the way we are accustomed to as a community.”

The American Red Cross is providing crisis counselors who can work with families, supplying emotional and spiritual support.

Residents who would like to receive confidential help can log in to www.redcross.org/nyscovidfamilysupport where they will fill out a nine-question form. Alternatively, residents can call 585-957-8187.

Bellone said New York State and Northwell Health tested 700 police officers yesterday at the Suffolk County Police Academy for the presence of antibodies to the virus.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said the police would use the information to track the location of positive cases to see if there are hotspots within the department.

Finally, Bellone is launching a new space on the county site where residents can share positive stories, at www.suffolkcountyny.gov/dashboardofhope. He is encouraging people to share positive stories about teachers this week, during National Teacher’s Week. Residents can share good news or can link to facebook, twitter, or videos.

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Lindsey David, a Medford EMT, is tested for coronavirus antibodies at New York Cancer and Blood Specialists in Port Jefferson Station. Photo by Kyle Barr

With the amount of testing for COVID-19 still nowhere where it needs to be, locals in emergency service are starting to get such necessary information whether they have COVID-19 or its antibodies from some unexpected places.

Kenneth Spiegel, a Medford volunteer department member, is tested for COVID-19 antibodies. Photo by Kyle Barr

The New York Cancer and Blood Specialists location in Port Jefferson Station started offering tests to firefighters, emergency responders and other essential workers Saturday, May 2. Throughout the morning, cars from districts such as Medford pulled into the parking lot located at 1500 Route 112 in Port Jefferson Station. Many who arrived said this had been their first opportunity to get tested, even though as EMS workers in an ambulance they have been handling COVID-positive patients for nearly the past two months.

Marcia Spiegel, an EMT for the Medford Fire Department, said she had been exposed all the way back in early March when at a surprise party she learned one of the persons there had it, but even close to two months since,she was never able to get tested.

Both her and her husband Kenneth both traveled to Port Jefferson Station to get tested, as did many from her department that morning May 2.

“If we’re in fact negative, it doesn’t mean that we still can’t get sick, but if we know if we have the antibodies, that would be better,” she said.

Staff in full body gear went out to each car to administer the tests, including the notorious long-stemmed nasal swab to test for the virus and drawing blood to test for antibodies. About 35 visitors came to the location last Saturday, including some essential workers from a construction company. NYCBS officials said another 50 would attend next Saturday’s marathon. The testing is held Saturdays at that specific location when no other employees or clients come through, medical workers said.

Lindsey David, a Medford EMT, said she donated blood right at the start of the pandemic, but has been looking for ways to help even more. That would be especially important if she can confirm she may have had the virus and perhaps can donate her blood plasma if she indeed has the antibodies.

“I just want to help any way I can,” she said.

Diana Youngs, a VP of Clinical Operations at NYCBS, said all readings from the tests are being done in-house at the Route 112 location. Fire departments and companies receive their antibody tests within the day, while the virus test is available within the next 48 hours.

Lindsey David, a Medford EMT, is tested for COVID-19 at New York Cancer and Blood Specialists in Port Jefferson Station. Photo by Kyle Barr

Researchers are still trying to understand what are the likelihood of developing antibodies for the virus after infection, but theoretically, Youngs said, if one has tested negative for the virus and for antibodies then likely they have never had the virus.

“They don’t know, and say you call an ambulance to your house, you don’t know if they have it,” Youngs said. “So it works both ways, it helps everybody.”

All testing supplies are coming from the company’s own suppliers.

Such efforts are some of the few non-governmental testing initiatives on the island that specifically offer help to emergency responders. While Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced plans for testing to be held at local pharmacies, specific details of locations and how those tests will be processed have not yet seen the light. New York state is also offering people the chance to try and get tested, with people able to visit covid19screening.health.ny.gov

Though, barring a vaccine, officials said testing is the only way the economy will eventually be able to safely reopen.

“Increased, reliable testing is going to be the key to reopening businesses, public facilities, and protecting our workers,” Brookhaven town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said in a release. “Offering these tests to our frontline workers is a critical first step.”

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The closely-watched hospitalization rate crept up in the last day, disrupting a streak that had Suffolk County within a day of reaching the critical 14-day declines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recommended for a phased reopening.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 rose by 4 to 817, as the number of people discharged from the hospital increased by 33, which is about a third of the pace for the last few weeks.

The slight increase in hospitalizations, however, does not reset the CDC guidance clock, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said the state would use a rolling three-day average of hospitalizations.

“We are confident we will meet that metric,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters. “Based on what we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, my expectation is that will be declining once again tomorrow.”

Cuomo’s daily press briefing outlined the basics for reopening the New York, though downstate counties such as Nassau and Suffolk are going to have to wait longer than upstate, which could see things open much sooner as the May 15 deadline for New York Pause order expires.

The number of people in Intensive Care Unit beds declined by seven to 317.

The number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus climbed by 563 to 37,537. Bellone said hotspot testing sites that have also provided food distribution would now include Huntington Station. Last week, the county added food distribution at Wyandanch and Brentwood.

The number of people who have died from complications related to COVID-19 increased by 17 to 1,273, which is lower than recent fatality rates. It still, however, represents the loss of another 17 people.

Separately, Northwell Health and New York State have started the process of antibody testing at the Suffolk County Police Academy for law enforcement today. The health care professionals tested 400 police officers today.

“We will be testing not only police officers, but also correction officers, deputy sheriffs and probation officers,” Bellone said. The testing will expand to include first responders, Emergency Services Staff, fire and essential employees.

Bellone urged anyone interested in joining the county’s Suffolk Forward business initiative, which is a joint effort with Stony Brook University, to reach out through 311.

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A blood sample with respiratory coronavirus positive. Stock photo

Even as Suffolk County moves closer every day to the possibility of restarting the economy and reopening shuttered businesses amid a steady decline in hospitalizations from COVID-19, the number of positive tests for the county as a hole and for hotspot testing sites for the virus continue to increase.

In the last 24 hours, 889 people tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total who have tested positive for the virus that has caused the pandemic to reach 36,974, bringing the total above the number of confirmed cases for Switzerland and about 44 percent of the number of confirmed cases out of China, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The number of positive tests “should be a little bit of a wake up call for people,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on a conference call with reporters. “We know the margin for error in the rate of transmission is not great.”

Indeed, the county executive said the transmission rate for each positive test is about 0.75. If the county rises to 1.1 on the rate of transmission – meaning each infected person passes along the virus to more than one other person – the virus could “spread out of control,” Bellone said. “We don’t have a lot of room to spare in these numbers.”

Bellone urged Suffolk County residents to understand that reopening “has to be done right.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said during his daily press briefing today that he will work to figure out what is causing the new infections, which would enable a more targeted approach to protecting the population, Bellone suggested.

As New York starts the seventh week of the governor’s New York Pause tonight, the number of people who have died in Suffolk County continues to climb. Over the last day, 29 people have died from complications related to Covid-19, bringing the total number of fatalities in the county to 1,256.

“There is not a person in Suffolk County who hasn’t been either directly impacted or knows somebody who has been affected,” Bellone said.

On the positive front, the number of hospitalizations continues its steady decline, with a reduction of 38 residents in the last day, bringing the total to 813. That is a decline of close to 51 percent from the highest coronavirus hospitalizations, which the county reached April 10. If the numbers decline over the next two days, Suffolk County will have reached 14 consecutive days where the net number of hospitalizations from the virus came down. That would meet the guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to start a phased reopening of the economy.

The number of people in Intensive Care Units also declined by three, to 324.

As of today, the number of people in hospital beds and in the intensive care units hovered around 70 percent, which is also a targeted figure from the CDC for reopening, as the health agency would like hospitals to have enough room for any future increase in admissions if the infection rate increases in the fall or winter.

In hotspot testing sites, the number of positive tests was 1,038 out of close to 2,400 results, which brings the positive rate of testing to 43.2 percent. That is still above the rate of 35.3 percent for the rest of the county, but it is a narrowing of the gap, Bellone said.

Bellone’s office distributed 24,000 personal protective equipment yesterday, bringing the total to 3.2 million since the crisis began. Yesterday, the county received 6,250 Tyvec Coveralls from the Federal Emergency Management Association.

As the warmer weather reaches Long Island, the Suffolk County Police Department continues to monitor the activity of people who have been cooped up indoors for weeks, cooking meals, cleaning their homes, and taking care of their children and, to the extent they can, continuing to manage their jobs.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said the volume is up in the parks and outside in general. “Overwhelmingly, people are in compliance” with social distancing guidelines, Hart said. “We’re hoping that’s what we’re going to see moving forward.”

Hart said the police will also continue to monitor any demonstrations in reaction to New York Pause, which is scheduled to end on May 15. She said if the police saw opportunities to provide face coverings to protestors or to remind them to maintain social distancing, the officers would do that.

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