Majority of New Viral Positives Come from Antibody Test

An additional 669 people tested positive for COVID-19 through 10 p.m. last night, bringing the total to 42,022.

Of the positive tests, 446 came from antibody tests, which typically test for the presence of antibodies that indicate that a person had the infection and has developed an immune response to it.

Among the examinations at hotspot testing sites, 1,473 positive tests have come back from a total of 3,952 results. Positive tests at the hotspots represent 37 percent of the total, compared with 32 percent for the county as a whole.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) didn’t have an update on the number of hospitalizations, which are a closely watched metric that can help determine when the county can begin to reopen the economy.

Meanwhile, an additional 20 people died over the last day, bringing the total of fatalities that include a COVID-19 positive diagnosis to 1,617.

Meeting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s and New York States criteria to begin the reopening process is still a certain way’s off. Suffolk has to maintain current declines in hospitalizations, as well as double the number of contract tracers it had as of May 8, 230 to around 400 to 450.

With Northwell Health, New York State has been testing Suffolk County police officers for the presence of antibodies. Of the 1,115 results, 65 tested positive, which means that 6 percent of the officers have had the virus.

“That’s an extraordinary number,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters, noting that it was below the 11.4 percent for Long Island overall and 12.3 percent for the state as a whole.

The low rate of infection reflects measures the department has taken “right from the start” to contain the infection among law enforcement, Bellone said.

Over the last 10 days, the number of sworn officers from the Suffolk County Police Department who have tested positive for the virus hasn’t increased at all, with 87 officers testing positive.