The money police said a St. James man sent to St. Louis as part of a phone scam. Photo from SCPD
Suffolk County Police worked in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to intercept cash sent by a St. James man as part of a phone scam.
Police said a 79-year-old man received a phone call April 8 from an individual who claimed the man’s grandson had been involved in a motor vehicle crash and subsequently arrested. The caller said the victim needed to send $9,500 in cash to an address in St. Louis to be utilized for his grandson’s bail.
This kind of scam has been used before, where scammers pretend to be a family member needing cash for bail. Scammers often use social media to get facts about the person before calling up family members, usually the grandparents.
The man, who sent the cash via USPS, then spoke with his grandson and determined the call was a scam and called police. Financial Crimes Unit detectives contacted officials at the New York office of the Postal Inspection Service who then contacted officials in the St. Louis office. Postal inspectors intercepted the package prior to delivery and turned over the cash to detectives April 14 to be returned to the victim.
“I would like to commend the efforts of the Financial Crimes Unit detectives who kept an innocent victim’s money from making its way into the hands of a scammer — a result that is not always easy,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said. “We would like to remind people to be alert to scams such as this one, as well as those involving the IRS, Social Security and utility companies. It is also important to be aware of emerging scams relating to COVID-19.”
While the number of hospitalizations related to COVID-19 increased for the first time in three days, the increase is still smaller than it had been and suggests that Suffolk County may still be approaching a peak.
John Tsunis proposed Investors Bank give a donation to Stony Brook University Hospital. File photo.
An additional 13 people entered hospitals in the last day, bringing the total number of people battling the virus in Suffolk County facilities to 1,608.
“What that starts to look like is that we are flattening and maybe plateauing at this level,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on a conference call with reporters. “If a flattening is occurring, that is a good thing.”
Indeed, the number of people in Intensive Care Units declined by eight, to 531.
The capacity for hospital beds is at 3,379, with 607 beds currently available, including 98 ICU beds.
At the same time, 108 people who had been in the hospital have been discharged in the last day.
Fatalities continue to rise, with 40 people dying from the coronavirus over the past day, bringing the total for the county to 608.
After shutting down three testing sites yesterday because of heavy winds and rain, the county reopened three hotspot testing sites at Huntington Station, Riverhead and Brentwood. This Thursday, the county plans to open additional by-appointment mobile testing facilities at Wyandanch and North Amityville.
The county continues to look for supplies for health care workers. Bellone said his office procured more than 2,000 face shields, about 14,000 N95 masks and 810 gowns, which is “not nearly enough. We need more gowns,” he said.
The county also received 5,000 masks from All Hands and Heart, a group that addresses the immediate and long term needs of communities affected by natural disasters. Bellone thanked their principal, Adam Haber, who helped coordinate the delivery of those masks.
Suffolk County delivered masks to grocery workers today as well.
The county is participating in a campaign to thank transit workers on Thursday at 3 p.m. Bellone encouraged people who hear the sounds of train, bus, or ferry horns to go to social media to share what they hear, through #soundthehorn or #heroesmovingheroes.
Throughout New York State, over 88 percent of the 10,834 fatalities had at least one other underlying medical condition, which includes hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, cancer, and congestive heart failure, among others.
In Suffolk County, the number of fatalities linked to complications from coronavirus in nursing homes was 155, while the number in adult care facilities was 97, brining the total to 252, according to figures from the New York State Department of Health. That means that over 40 percent of the deaths in Suffolk County were in nursing homes or adult care centers.
“The virus attacks this exact population of individuals: the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions,” Bellone said.
The number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Suffolk County stands at 22,691, which is up 744 over the last 24 hours.
Separately, Stony Brook University Hospital announced that over 1,853 people had contributed $669,388 to the hospitals’s Coronavirus Crisis Challenge. The fundraising goal is $750,000.
Investors Bank and its Foundation contributed $100,00 to cover part of the cost of erecting and equipping a field hospital that will have over 1,000 beds and is expected to be completed later this week. The suggestion to make the contribution came from John Tsunis, former Gold Coast Chairman and CEO and current Chairman of investors Bank Long Island Advisory Board. Investors Bank recently purchased Gold Coast Bancorp.
“I am so grateful that Investors Bank is continuing [its] partnership and that its core values echo what the Long Island communities have come to expect from Gold Coast,” Tsunis said in a statement.
Even as Suffolk County residents dealt with a storm that had knocked out power in 10,000 homes by 3 p.m., hospitals that have been in the center of the coronavirus storm experienced a second straight day of improving numbers.
The number of people hospitalized in the county dropped 19 to 1,595, according to County Executive Steve Bellone (D).
“That is not enough to tell us that we’ve seen the worst of this at this point, but it is another positive indicator,” Bellone said.
The number of residents in Intensive Care Unit beds also declined by nine to 539, while the number of patients who are intubated also declined by one.
“To see all three of those numbers down, however slightly, is a positive,” the county executive said.
Suffolk County, along with the entire State of New York, has been at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of people testing positive, sick with the virus, in the hospital, or among those felled by the disease rising rapidly since the first reported positive test on March 9.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said such numbers, while still horrific in seeing the number of deaths from Easter Sunday, represents a “flattening of the curve,” with the increase in deaths finally showing a slow down.
The county bed capacity, meanwhile, continued to rise, as area hospitals follow through on plans to double the bed capacity, particularly if the recent drops in hospitalizations become a momentary pause before more residents need urgent medical care.
In the last day, area hospitals have increased bed capacity by 57, bringing the total to 3,423 for the county, which includes 756 ICU beds. The overall number of beds available is 717, with 103 ICU beds currently vacant.
Adding to the string of positive developments over the last two days, hospitals also discharged 125 patients who had received treatment.
Hospital gowns remains the biggest supplies need for hospitals, Bellone said.
The county has 772 ventilators, with 262 currently available.
“At this point, with where we are with the numbers, unless we see a significant spike [in demand], I am comfortable with where we are on the ventilators,” Bellone said.
In an ongoing trend amid more widespread testing, residents continue to test positive for the virus. Over the last 24 hours, the number who tested positive climbed by over 1,000 to 21,947. Amid the storm today, mobile testing sites in hotspots including Huntington Station, Brentwood and Riverhead were closed, although Bellone is “expecting to have the sites back on track tomorrow.”
The number of people who have died from complications connected to coronavirus continues to rise. An additional 50 people died, bringing the total in the county to 568.
A St. James family waits for the Easter Bunny. Photo by Rita J. Egan
A child looks forward to seeing the Easter Bunny. Photo by Steven Zaitz
The St. James Fire Department escorts the Easter Bunny through the hamlet April 11. Photo by Steven Zaitz
A child greets the Easter Bunny. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Karisma Salon escorts the Easter Bunny April 11. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Karisma Salon escorts the Easter Bunny April 11. Photo by Steven Zaitz
The St. James Fire Department escorts the Easter Bunny through the hamlet April 11. Photo by Steven Zaitz
The St. James Fire Department escorts the Easter Bunny through the hamlet April 11. Photo by Steven Zaitz
The St. James Fire Department escorts the Easter Bunny through the hamlet April 11. Photo by Steven Zaitz
The St. James Fire Department escorts the Easter Bunny through the hamlet April 11. Photo by Steven Zaitz
Matt Kelly dressed up as the Easter Bunny to bring joy to Smithown children. Photo from Matt Kelly
Matt Kelly dressed up as the Easter Bunny to bring joy to Smithown children. Photo from Matt Kelly
Children wave to the Easter Bunny. Photo from Matt Kelly
Smithtown residents reported a number of Easter Bunny sightings April 11.
The essential worker’s helpers organized a few bunny runs throughout the town’s hamlets. Everyone practiced social distancing as the bunnies and their assistants stayed in their vehicles, and parents and children waved from their porches, lawns and cars.
Smithtown resident Matt Kelly dressed up as the Easter Bunny and sat in the back of a red pickup truck as it traveled through Smithtown proper, Nesconset, St. James and parts of Commack and Hauppauge. Kelly said in an email for a few years he has dressed as the famous bunny for Easter and Santa Claus during the holiday season. When he heard of other Long Island towns organizing Easter Bunny drive-bys, he said, he was inspired “to do the same in this amazing community. ”
“It’s all about making others feel better,” Kelly said.
Karisma Salon joined in on the fun by accompanying the Easter Bunny throughout the town April 11 as well. According to its Facebook page, the salon also took requests from anyone who missed the run so the bunny could come back Easter Day.
St. James Fire Department escorted the Easter Bunny throughout the hamlet of St. James the afternoon of April 11. This time around the bunny had the chance to ride on top of a fire engine to wave to all the children who were waiting for him.
Stony Brook University's COVID-19 testing site. Photo by Matthew Niegocki
On Easter Sunday, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) shared more encouraging signs about the battle against the coronavirus.
The number of hospitalizations fell over the last 24 hours, for the first time since the start of the pandemic on Long Island. The number of hospitalizations decreased by 44, to 1,658.
“This is the number that tells me where we are headed,” Bellone said on his daily call with reporters.
Bellone cautioned that it’s unclear whether this individual statistic was a statistical anomaly or part of a trend.
“In the context of where we’ve been and the trajectory, there’s a bit of light in the darkness,” Bellone said. “There’s a real sense of hope about where we are going and what is happening.”
While the number of overall hospitalizations declined, the number of residents in beds in the intensive care unit increased by seven to 548.
“We’re seeing that staying relatively in that flat level,” Bellone said. “We’ll see where that goes over the next few days.”
In the last 24 hours, hospitals in Suffolk County have discharged 160 patients, which is also a positive figure Bellone shared.
The number of people who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 has increased to 20,934.
The new testing sites in hotspot communities including Huntington Station, Brentwood and Riverhead will be closed tomorrow because of expected heavy winds and rain.
“High winds make it impossible to do this kind of testing,” Bellone said. People who had an appointment would be able to reschedule them.
The virus continues to claim the lives of residents in the county. The number of people who have died from complications related to the coronavirus increased by 60, bringing the total to 518. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this morning the death tole in New York has gone to 9,385.
The county executive extended his condolences to the families who have lost loved ones to the pandemic.
“I never imagined being in the position of reporting the numbers on a daily basis of people who have died in our county from anything like this,” Bellone said. “It drives home the point of why we’re doing all of this.”
Bellone urged people to continue to maintain social distancing and to work from home. While he couldn’t indicate when the county might open up again, he suggested that the economic decision-making process would likely involve regional discussions and coordination.
“We are one region, and when we talk about the economy, that’s important,” Bellone said. “It’s too early to tell the direction of the data.”
Bellone said he would continue to look at hospitalizations, as the hospitals are “strained beyond anything we have ever seen.”
Bellone visited the field hospital that construction workers were building this morning at Stony Brook University and which is scheduled for completion by next Saturday.
“It is our hope that our hospital never sees a single patient,” Bellone said. “If that is the case, it means that everything we have been doing, the sacrifices, the Easter that is different for all of us today who celebrate, that it is working and is saving people’s lives.”
Amid the religious holidays of Passover and Easter, Suffolk County is starting to see some trends that offer some hope to residents.
Some of the numbers have started to move in a favorable direction. The number of people hospitalized with coronavirus increased by 16 over the last 24 hours, climbing to 1,658. At the same time, the number of people entering the Intensive Care Unit only rose by 18 to 541.
In the prior week, hospitals admitted an average of 144 patients per day. The average this week has come down to 35 people per day.
“We’ll be looking forward to this week,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters. “Hopefully, we’ll be seeing those numbers come down” even further.
Additionally, the number of people discharged from the hospital who had coronavirus reached 160, which is the highest number since residents with COVID-19 were admitted.
The combination of lower admissions and higher hospital discharges is “great news,” Bellone said.
Bellone said social distancing and keeping residents at home are having a dramatic impact and that it’s unclear whether hospitals in Suffolk County will need all the additional capacity in hospital beds.
Bellone cautioned that some of the recent positive numbers would likely move dramatically against the county if people let their guards down.
“By no means [do these encouraging signs] suggest we are changing course,” he said.
Indeed, the number of positive diagnoses has increased to 20,321, which is a jump of about 1,000 over a number the county adjusted after recognizing some double counting from the day before.
The county is providing new tests in hotspot neighborhoods, including Huntington Station, Riverhead and Brentwood. Later this week, Suffolk County also plans to provide by-appointment testing at Wyandanch and Amityville.
Meanwhile, the number of deaths connected to coronavirus rose another 44, bringing the total to 458.
Bellone offered his condolences to the survivors, adding, “we are thinking about your every day.”
He also thanked schools throughout the county for distributing meals during the public health crisis. Schools have distributed 770,000 meals since the pandemic reached the county, which includes 254,000 meals in the past week.
The county executive also thanked the technology teachers at William Floyd High School who made 550 face shields to protect health care workers who are on the front lines.
Bellone also was asked about the timing to reopen schools amid a back and forth between New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). De Blasio would like to close schools for the rest of the academic year, while Cuomo believes that decision rests with his office and should be made in consultation with other officials in the state and schools in the region.
“We are one New York,” Bellone said. “The regional approach makes sense. We’ll be having those conversations in the coming days and beyond as we look at the data and see where we’re going to make the best informed decision.”
Separately, the 25,000 hospital gowns Bellone sent members of the Department of Public Works to retrieve from Allentown, Pennsylvania arrived yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Suffolk County Police Department has had 72 officers test positive for COVID-19, with 21 of them returning to work.
Suffolk County has had difficulties coming up with PPE devices during the ongoing pandemic. Stock photo
With 20,000 Suffolk County residents testing positive for Coronavirus and 1,642 people in the hospital with symptoms of COVID-19, the pandemic has created a tremendous strain on health care workers, first responders, and on the county’s supply of personal protective equipment.
The latest and strongest need in the county, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters, is gowns.
The county had ordered 25,000 gowns, which were supposed to arrive yesterday. On a follow up call, Bellone learned the gowns were in Allentown, Pennsylvania and were scheduled to arrive April 14, which is not nearly soon enough.
Bellone sent a crew from the Department of Public Works to Pennsylvania to pick up the gowns, which are now expected this afternoon.
Those gowns, however, “will not last long,” especially as the ongoing need for health care services remains high, Bellone said.
The number of fatalities related to complications from COVID-19 climbed another 52 and now stands at 414.
“What is frightening about those numbers is that we know they will continue to rise,” Bellone said.
Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) said today he would issue an executive order to bring more funeral directors amid high mortalities in the state.
“This has been a real challenge for funeral directors and the staffs at cemeteries across the county,” Bellone said. Funeral homes are dealing with the “same kind of shortages across the board. That creates issues with the entire system. We are grateful to the governor, who is thinking about these issues and challenges.”
To increase awareness of the ongoing crisis in communities where the infection rate is high, the county recently opened a testing site in Huntington Station. Today, Suffolk also opened sites in Brentwood and Riverhead and is also exploring adding testing facilities at other locations.
The county has added a Spanish language text messaging service with updates on the coronavirus. People who are interested in receiving updates in Spanish can text CovidEspanol to 67283.
Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) directed schools and nonessential businesses to remain close for two more weeks, through April 29th.
New Yorkers can collect an additional $600 in weekly unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks, for a total of 39 weeks.
On Wednesday, the Suffolk County Police Department arrested Richard Green, a resident of Mastic Beach, who allegedly broke into four businesses in Patchogue and Center Moriches over the past few months.
“This should serve as a reminder that while the police department is engaged in COVID-19 responses, they are continuing to do everything they have to do to protect the public and public safety in this county,” Bellone said. “If you are thinking this might be a good time to commit a crime, think again. You will be apprehended and arrested.”
In thinking about a return to a more normal future after social distancing and New York Pause ends, Bellone said the county has engaged and formalized a Suffolk Recovery Task Force, which Deputy County Executive Jon Kaiman will lead.
Kaiman, who is a former North Hempstead Supervisor, has “extraordinary experience in government,” Bellone said, adding that he led Cuomo’s recovery efforts on Long Island after Hurricane Sandy.
COVID-19, a strain of the coronavirus, is now a pandemic. I have been barraged with questions from patients, neighbors and friends. They are right to be asking questions, because there is not enough information being circulated about how to protect yourself and your family.
Key elements
The key weapons we have in this fight against COVID-19 are containment and mitigation. A lot has been shared about containment by the Centers for Disease Control. Containment is reducing the incidence of new cases to a goal of zero, thus flattening the prevalence curve so this virus is no longer infecting anyone. This requires social distancing, hand washing for at least 20 seconds, surface cleaning, and avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth (1). If you have not already, I encourage you to review the guidelines at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.
There is less information being provided about how we can minimize the severity of the disease if we are infected. This is mitigation. Mitigation is about preparing ourselves, so we experience an asymptomatic or a mild form.
Who is most at risk?
According to a study focusing on Wuhan, China findings, people most at risk are those who have chronic diseases, with high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease being the three most common (2). Also at risk are those who are “older,” that is 60 years or older, for they are more likely to have weakened immune systems and increased inflammation.
Managing your immune response
Ultimately, the goal is to have a healthy, appropriate immune system response. If the immune system “under-responds,” the virus’s symptoms will be more severe. Another term for this is immunocompromised.
If the immune system is overstimulated, your white blood cells are more likely to attack healthy tissue and cause further damage, exacerbating the situation. This sometimes happens after a heart attack, where the immune response is overzealous, targets healthy tissue and causes dysfunction in the heart. This process is called remodeling.
The goal is to create a healthy/strengthened immune system — not to boost and not to suppress the immune system. You want the “Goldilocks” of immune responses: not too little, not too much, but just right.
What can be done?
The best methodology here is to lean on what I call the four pillars of lifestyle modification: diet, exercise, stress management, and sleep.
Diet.By implementing a nutrient-dense, whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet or, more specifically, what I call a “Low Inflammatory Foods Everyday (LIFE) diet,” you can rapidly improve or even reverse these chronic diseases, decrease inflammation and strengthen your immune system, which will decrease your chances of dying from the virus.
The Lancet study referenced above found that inflammation and a weakened immune system were central to determining how people will do on entering the hospital.
What I’ve found with the LIFE diet in my practice is that people have white blood cells that are on the low end of the scale, between 2.5-4.5, rather than in the middle or upper range of 6.0-10.8. Typically, my patients’ white blood cells when they get sick stay within the normal range of 3.4-10.8. In fact., I had a patient who recently got a cold virus: their white blood cells were 3.4 before they got sick, and they rose to only 7.8, well within the normal range. This resulted in a targeted response with recovery in a very short time period.
For those with healthy immune systems, if they do get the coronavirus, their response will be more likely targeted instead of a disproportionately large response that starts killing the virus but also the healthy tissue in the lungs, leading to increased inflammation and fluid build-up in the lungs. Dr Fauci has warned this could potentially happen – what is called a cytokine storm – although the chances are very small. Ultimately, the immune system in these situations contributes to the problem, instead of helping.
So, what can you do to incorporate LIFE diet habits into your daily routine?
Focus on fresh and frozen fruits, vegetables and legumes. This is very important. With vegetables, the focus should be on dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, bok choy, kale, broccoli and cauliflower, as well as mushrooms. More is better. You cannot have too much. For fruits, apples have shown to play an important role in lung health, and all types of berries have high anti-inflammatory effects.
WFPB diets ultimately help with inflammation and immune strengthening and also support reduced stress and better sleep. The reason for these effects may have to do with the microbiome, the microbes living in your gut, which are an important determinant of how your immune system functions. Seventy percent of your immune cells are in your gut.
You can test for inflammation by looking at both white blood cell count and high sensitivity CRP (hsCRP). Beta carotene levels in the blood are a way to measure nutrient levels. I recently published a study that showed there is an inverse relationship between beta carotene in the blood and inflammation measured through hsCRP. This showed a 75 percent reduction in inflammation with higher beta carotene levels achieved through a plant-rich diet focusing on dark green leafy vegetables.
Interestingly, you don’t seem to achieve the same reduction in inflammation from vitamins or plant-based powders as you do by eating actual fruits and vegetables and legumes.
Stress management and exercise. Please, don’t panic. When you stress, your body releases cortisol, or internal steroids, that actually weaken the immune system and increase your risk of serious infection. Techniques to reduce your stress include exercise, yoga and meditation.
Mild to moderate exercise can be effective, such as a walk or jog outdoors or up and down the steps of your home. Just because the gyms may be closed in your area does not mean you can’t get exercise. It is spring, let’s take advantage of the weather, which will also help with mood and stress.
You can also exercise your lungs using an incentive spirometer. My personal favorite is the Triflo II version, but there are many on the market. I recommend taking 10 breaths using the incentive spirometer twice a day. This can help expand your lungs and keep the aveoli healthy and open. Aveoli exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules to and from the bloodstream.
Sleep. Exercise will also help with sleep, as will the LIFE diet. Getting enough quality sleep is important to strengthening the immune system. Quality, not quantity, is most crucial.
What if you are infected?
If you are infected, supportive care is most critical: stay hydrated; focus on foods with fluids in them to help with this, like fruits, vegetables, and low-salt vegetable-based soups; and sleep.
Importantly, stay away from NSAIDS. These are mostly over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen, naproxen and even aspirin, but can be prescriptions such as diclofenac. These suppress the immune system, thus making it more difficult for it to fight (3)(4). The mechanism of action for this suppression of the immune system is an anti-inflammatory effect that is different and detrimental, compared to the favorable anti-inflammatory effects of a WFPB diet such as the LIFE diet.
Instead, you want to reduce fever using acetaminophen, or Tylenol. This will not have any effects on inflammation, thus not interfering with the body’s immune system. If you can’t tolerate acetaminophen for fever, some alternatives may be elderflowers, catnip (which is a gentle choice for children), yarrow, white willow bark, echinacea, and lemon balm, although there is little data on their effectiveness.
Do not hesitate to go to the hospital if you have difficulty breathing, persistent pain or pressure in your chest, new confusion or an inability to get up, or bluish lips or face. These are signs of potentially severe and life-threatening COVID-19 symptoms.
To sum it all up, chronic diseases and not managing those four lifestyle pillars are risk factors for dying from COVID-19. You can improve or reverse your chronic diseases, as well as strengthen your immune system and reduce inflammation through a plant-rich dark green leafy vegetable diet like the LIFE diet
References:
(1) cdc.gov/coronavirus. (2) Lancet. Published online March 9, 2020. (3) Lung. 2017;195(2):201-8. (4) Chest. 2011;139(2):387-94
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.
Led by Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero, the medical director for perioperative quality and patient safety, the clinical trial for plasma donations is expected to enroll up to 500 patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine
The next piece of personal protective equipment that Suffolk County needs is gowns, as Long Island remains at the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Today, the county will receive 25,000 gowns, thanks to the work of the procurement team which has been “scouring the planet for supplies,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters.
While those gowns will help the health care workers who have been helping the influx of patients coming into hospitals, they won’t be sufficient amid the ongoing outbreak.
“The burn rate [for gowns] is absolutely incredible,” said Bellone, who urged residents to donate hospital gowns to the Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services site at 102 East Avenue in Yaphank between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Bellone thanked Onandago County Executive Ryan McMahon, who is sending reinforcements in the form of 22 nurses to Stony Brook University.
“Those nurses will come down here to provide assistance and relief to front line workers who have been going at this nonstop, working shift after shift in an incredibly intense environment,” Bellonme said. “We are extraordinarily grateful.”
Bellone also thanked DS Services of America, a company based in Georgia, who brought a tractor trailer load of bottled water, coffee, tea and a collection of beverages to the county. The county will deliver those donations to first responders and health care workers.
Criminals Caught
While some people have taken the crisis in the county as an opportunity to contribute, others have seen it as a chance to commit crimes.
This week, the Suffolk County Police Department arrested Joseph Porter of Mastic Beach and Rebecca Wood of Lake Ronkonkoma in Bay Shore for a string of 11 burglaries committed between March 9, the day after Suffolk County had its first coronavirus patient, and April 7.
One of the alleged burglars told police he thought he would be able to get away with his crimes because the police were distracted with the virus.
“He was wrong,” Bellone said.
Additionally, police apprehended John Cayamanda, a St. James resident, whom they allege committed several acts of arson since the start of the virus.
“This is a reassurance to the public that our police department and all of our law enforcement agencies are on the job and are able to do their work,” Bellone said.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said the number of domestic violence incidents, which have been climbing nationally amid social distancing and work-from-home arrangements, has climbed 8 percent.
“We have a dedicated unit for domestic violence and they are continuing their outreach, identifying individuals and making sure they get the assistance they need,” Hart said on the call.
Cases Climb
As for the coronavirus tests, the number of confirmed cases continues to climb, rising 1,700 to 18,602 people. The total is about a half of the number reported for all of mainland China, Bellone said.
As of yesterday, the number of Suffolk County Police officers who tested positive for COVID-19 was 62, with 18 of those officers returning to work.
The number of people hospitalized in the last 24 hours showed the smallest increase in recent weeks, rising by 10 people.
“That is a good sign,” Bellone said.
The number of people entering the Intensive Care Unit, meanwhile, rose by 14 people, which is still below a recent high from several days ago.
Overall, the number of hospital beds in the county stands at 3,365, with 750 total ICU beds. Currently, there are 585 hospital beds and 102 ICU beds available.
Over the last 24 hours, 39 people have died from the virus, which brings the total for the county up to 362.
“Our hearts break for those families who have been impacted by this,” Bellone said. “We know we are not at the apex. We are still in the thick of this.”
To reach young people who may not be practicing the same social distancing guidelines, Bellone said he was launching a peer-to-peer Covid challenge. This initiative attempts to tap into the creativity of students to share their stories about what they are doing online and with their peers. He said he hopes those people who follow social distancing guidelines will inspire their peers to do the same.
Seeking Plasma Donors, Saving N95 Masks
Separately, Stony Brook University is looking for donors who have recovered from a coronavirus infection who can contribute plasma that might help others fight the disease.
Led by Elliott Bennet-Guerrero, the Medical Director of Perioperative Quality and Patient Safety, the study plans to treat up to 500 Long Island patients with convalescent plasma, which is rich in the antibodies patients who defeated COVID-19 used to return to health.
Stony Brook University Hospital received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to treat patients through a randomized, controlled study. In a typical study, the groups would be evenly divided between those who receive the treatment and those who get a control. The public health crisis, however, has allowed researchers to change that mix, so that 80 percent of the patients in the trial will receive the convalescent plasma.
Also, Stony Brook announced a novel way to disinfect the coveted N95 masks, which have become the gold standard to protect health care workers and first responders.
Ken Shroyer, the Chair of the Department of Pathology, and Glen Itzkowitz, Associate Dean for Research Facilities & Operations, found that masks passed fit tests after they were treated up to four repeated cycles in a dry heat oven at 212 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
In an email, Shroyer explained that temperature control is important because the masks need to be sterilized at the highest temperature possible, although they failed if they were heated above 248 degrees Fahrenheit. Since some ovens might not have accurate thermostats, it would be helpful to confirm the temperature inside the oven with a thermometer.
The procedure involves placing each mask in a paper bag labeled with the name of the health care provider and work location. A technician seals the bags with indicator tape and places them in the oven.
“The team has discussed potential fabrication efforts to construct a sterilizer racking system capable of recycling as many as 8,000 masks a day through the heat treatment,” Itzkowitz said in a press release.
Stony Brook researchers hope hospitals, clinics, or nursing homes could use this technique to protect workers on the front lines of the battle against the virus.
Stony Brook's temporary testing site is being built by the Army Corps of Engineers. Photo by Matthew Niegocki
Matthew Niegocki of the nonprofit group Three Village Dads Foundation took drone footage of the over 1,000-bed hospital being built at Stony Brook University during the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has told Newsday they expect to be open by April 19. Current cost to the contractor, Manhattan-based Turner Construction Co., is for $50 million.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has said the temporary hospitals are to be used once the main hospitals run out of bed space, for doctors not having to travel across the space of the campus to access the temporary hospital.
At the same time, Stony Brook University’s testing site has been running since March 18. So far, every day for the past week, Suffolk County has added an additional 1,000 cases to the total number of positive coronavirus cases. As of April 8, over 36,000 tests have been administered, and 43 percent of those tested come out positive. There are just over 17,000 positive cases in Suffolk County currently.
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