With a reduction of 77 hospitalizations in the last 24 hours from COVID-19, hospitalizations have dropped over 40 percent from their peak on April 10.
Indeed, the number of people in the hospital because of the coronavirus has dropped to 970, which is close to the number who were in Suffolk County hospitals at the start of April.
The end of the month of April “couldn’t be more different than when we started,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters. “When we started [April], we had no idea whether that surge that we were talking about for so long would overwhelm” the health care system.
Bellone credited health care heroes with saving people’s lives and holding the line against the surge of people who developed symptoms from the disease.
The county is ending this month “in a far better place than we began,” Bellone added.
Even as hospitalizations have declined, however, residents are continuing to test positive for the virus, as the number of new positive tests increased by 723 to 34,802.
Ever since the county created hotspot testing, the numbers from those seven sites, which now includes Southampton, have been increasing. The county has tested 2,459 people and has positive results on 881 of the 1,868 tests for which results are known.
The number of people with coronavirus in Intensive Care Unit beds also fell by 25 to 344.
Bed capacity is approaching 70 percent, which is the target rate to reopen the economy.
Bellone is also optimistic that the county will continue to move towards the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s target of 14 straight days of declining hospitalizations from the virus. Once the county reaches that level, it can consider reopening the economy.
In the last 24 hours, 114 residents have left the hospital.
Deaths due to complications from the coronavirus continue to climb. The number of people who died in the last day from the virus was 22, bringing the total to 1,177 people.
Bellone said he doesn’t think there’s a resident of Suffolk County who hasn’t been impacted or know someone who lost a family member, friend or loved one to the disease. The county executive mourned the loss of Terri Freda, who worked in the Medical Examiner’s Office. Freda, who was a spokeswoman for the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s office in 1997 after the crash of TWA Flight 800, and her husband both lost their battle with the virus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Terri’s family,” Bellone said.
The county will begin testing law enforcement this Monday and will administer 500 tests at Suffolk County Police Academy. Officers can register starting tomorrow.
Separately, Stony Brook University is urging residents with medical needs unrelated to COVID-19 to reach out to their doctors. People who are having cardiac issues or strokes need rapid-response medical attention, the hospital said.
In a press release, Stony Brook indicated that it has taken numerous steps to protect patients and minimize exposure to COVID-19, including: preventing crowding; adopting CDC guidelines about social distancing and protective equipment; ensuring that staff, doctors and patients are wearing masks; sanitizing facilities; and screening patients the day before their visits. Patients with symptoms of the virus are going to offices designated for COVID-19 care.
Registered nurse Alba Sanchez, from Smithtown Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care, wears a face shield to protect herself from exposure to airborne coronavirus splatter. Photo from Dr. John Folan
By Donna Deedy
Local residents have pulled together in extraordinary ways to help fight COVID-19. Among them is Setauket resident Richard Sobel, a partner in a new venture that’s bringing protective face shields for health care workers to the marketplace.
Sobel co-owns a company that produces conveyor systems. Like so many other businesses, he had to temporarily close operations due to the pandemic. Once he learned that Stony Brook University Hospital needed 5,000 face shields, he sprang into action.
He reached out to Jeremy Donovan and Stan Winston, teachers at The Stony Brook School, where his son Owen is enrolled. He read that a few students there were using 3D printing to make masks for the hospital.
“I knew my manufacturing facility could quickly produce these face shields,” he said.
Together with David Ecker, director of Stony Brook University’s iCreate Lab, and his team of innovators, a collaboration was born.
Sobel retooled his factory, rehired seven furloughed workers full time and recruited volunteers that included his own children and other local high school and college students. Sobel’s company Railex, delivered 5,000 face shields in four days to the university hospital at no charge, using equipment donated by Lowes, Home Depot, P.C. Richard & Son, JPG Electric, LPR Precision, North Shore Tool and The Stony Brook School.
“Without any one of these organizations, this would have never happened,” Sobel said.
But what started as a charitable act soon turned into an important essential business.
After donating the initial supply to Stony Brook University, Sobel’s company began selling the face shields, mainly to mid-sized and smaller health care facilities and to medical professionals themselves.
Dr. John Folan, a local physician, was among Sobel’s first customers. His practice cares for aging and vulnerable patients at rehab and assisted living centers in St. James and Smithtown. Prior to the pandemic, Folan explained that health care facilities had supplied the equipment to their employees.
“The PPE shortage hit us hard,” he said. “Hospitals get first dibs.”
With supplies scarce, the virus spreading and patients dying, Folan and his staff took it upon themselves to secure their own protective equipment, some of which they donated to Smithtown Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care.
“What’s great about the face shield is that it’s reusable,” Folan said. “It can be cleaned and sanitized.”
Prior to receiving the Railex face shield order, he said that medical staff had resorted to wearing goggles, which are uncomfortable and hard to clean.
“It’s nice to know that your neighbor has the ingenuity to solve an urgent problem,” he said.
Today Railex is making about 1,200 face shields each day to keep up with current demand. Sobel said his company is happy to accept orders for the face shields, whether it’s one or thousands.
All around, people were happy to get involved, to innovate on the fly using new techniques to help make a difference in a desperate situation, Ecker said.
Gianna Pellela and her family volunteering for those in need. Photo from Pellala
It goes without saying that these are difficult times and many things going on that we have never witnessed before. Many articles and news stories appear daily about some pretty bad things going on. However, the focus of this article will be to look at some of the positive things we are seeing; from the eyes ofboth the young and old.
An Intro
By Andrew Harris
Recently, I have seen so many things going on on during this crisis that I haven’t seen in many years. Some of these happenings have been positive, and I wanted to take the time to stop and point some of them out. The first thing I noticed was something that used to be more common, but I have not heard in many years. It was the sounds of playful laughter of young children outside in their backyards almost on a daily basis. I started to notice more and more positive things that are going on and wanted to focus on these things and see if some of our students might see some positivity for a younger persons perspective. I was impressed by what they were noticing, like how helping others helps to take any negative focus off yourself, how young people are staying connected and supporting each other and finally how our environment seems to be improving on a daily basis.
Helping Others
By Gianna Pellela
Gianna Pellela and her family helped collect items for those in need. Photo from Pallela
In this time of crisis, it can be very easy to focus on the negatives in our lives. My family and I have tried to find ways to both occupy ourselves and help others even though we can’t physically see too many people. Being able to focus on the positives makes this quarantined time a lot easier. The situation we are in can really be a good time of self reflection and personal improvement. It can also be used to be a time of unity amongst all of our communities.
While I have done many things to keep up with my own well being, I have also helped in a food drive. This food drive was held at the cafe owned by my church. Throughout the week, the community dropped off food and supplies that all got disinfected. My family and I went to the cafe where we were alone, and we divided these foods and supplies into bags for the community members in need. We also filled bags for nurses and medical workers. These bags had items such as bonnets, masks, waters and more. Then, people drove through the parking lot one at a time and opened their trunks so that we could place the bags into their cars. This was an amazing event that allowed me to give back even considering the circumstances.
Unity in Distance
By Daniela Galvez-Cepeda
Despite the fact that physical contact has been cut off from us during the quarantine, it is important to remember that we are not alone. Through different social media apps and discussion boards, high school seniors are communicating with others about an array of topics.
I have experienced this first hand. Along with my Student Government co-president, we figured it was important to let our whole community know the talent the Comsewogue Class of 2020 holds. That is why we created the @wogue.2020 Instagram page, which posts pictures of seniors and the colleges they are going to. Classmates “liking” and “commenting” on each other’s posts really shows that we can still be connected despite the distance.
Not only are our Comsewogue seniors interacting online with one another, but they are also meeting the people they will go to college with. Since campus tours and visits aren’t available right now, colleges have created special channels for their incoming students to learn about the school they are going to. Students can send a quick text or email to an upperclassman or dean knowing that they will get a response in a matter of minutes. I, personally, have been connected with so many current students and future classmates from my college that it has made my decision to go there so much easier.
These cases show that, even though we are going through some rough times, we can still find alternative ways to build new relationships and make new lifelong connections.
Noticing the Improvements in Our Environment
By Ashley Doxey and Alyssa Morturano
Since it started, the Coronavirus outbreak has devastated most of the world. On Dec. 31, 2019, the government in Wuhan, China, confirmed that health authorities were treating dozens of cases. Since then, there have been outbreaks in 210 countries and almost 200,000 deaths. But the outbreak is also having an intriguing impact on Earth’s environment, as nations restrict the movement of people.
The Coronavirus has halted tourism. Since the lack of boat traffic, the Venice canals are thriving andare clear enough to see the fish swimming below. This lack of boat traffic has allowed for fish, like mosquito fish, to roam the canals. There is still a lack of water purity, but all of the sediment has settled to the bottom. Even swans and dolphins have been spotted in the nearby port. Now, the canal is filled with tiny fish, scuttling crabs, and an array of multicoloured plants.
Since the Coronavirus outbreak, the arrival of fish in Venice isn’t the only improvement this world has seen. People are using less oil, and carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions are falling too. This leads to better air quality. More animals are roaming the empty city streets. The coronaviruspandemic is terrible, but in this time of hardship, we must look at the positives. These environmental benefits are another reason for us to stay indoors.
These are some of the positive things we are seeing from the current situation. Focusing on helping others helps us not be so self-centered and only concerned with ourselves. Learning new ways to connect with others, even virtually, can be positive and even when things get back to normal may help us make new and more connections. Finally, we are all breathing in cleaner air and seeing new environmental improvements all around us.
Perhaps this can remind us to turn off the television, stop watching all the negativity and start seeing and creating more positive things out of all of this.
Family, My Silver Lining
Derek Order
Quarantine. Who would have ever thought at any point in my life I’d be held to a quarantine. I have only heard of quarantines in movies and television. No friends. No girlfriend. No trip to Europe. No gym. My senior fashion show was cancelled, and both my graduation and senior prom are to be determined. Unbelievable.
From the beginning, my mom has told me to try to find the silver lining. There is always a silver lining? How could there be a silver lining when my senior year is ruined? I am going to college in the fall, and this is how I am going to spend my last few months; quarantined with my family?
And then it occurred to me. Family is my silver lining. I have spent these two months with the most important people in the world. My mom has taught me to cook. I’ve spent countless hours in Monopoly tournaments with my brothers. I caught up on some classic television with my Dad. Entering this quarantine, I thought it would be miserable, but it is not. It is actually a blessing.
Outro: An Adendum
By Andrew Harris
The students who wrote this article did so completely voluntarily and out of the goodness of their own hearts. The additional writing they do is purely on their own and not part of their normal heavy and challenging workload. They continue to impress me during these challenging times. All people are hit hard with what we are going through, but as a student the new normal has changed dramatically. Learning online can be extremely difficult to navigate. Having your sports, graduation and all your in-person socialization cancelled, as a teenager, is difficult to say the least. I applaud them.
Scott November leaves the rehabilitation center with his wife, Shelley, at the wheel. Photo from the November family
One Northport resident’s experience with the coronavirus led him to the brink of death, and now that he’s back at home, he’s beyond grateful for those who nursed him back to health.
The Novembers with their children and grandchildren. Photo from the November family
Scott November, 66, was Huntington Hospital’s first ventilated patient who has survived and recovered from COVID-19. After a journey that took him from at first not being able to be tested for the virus and trying to recoup at home, to a hospital visit that led to him being on a ventilator, November has now put 10 days of rehabilitation and more than a week of at-home quarantine behind him. As of April 24, he was finally able to see family members, even though it was from a distance.
“I was really exceptionally well and lovingly cared for in the hospital,” November said.
The father and grandfather, who is a purchasing and global operations manager for a brass fitting company in Brooklyn, said early in March he attended parties for his grandchildren. He said he was feeling fine, moving tables and kissing and hugging everyone.
The next day he went to work and felt good at the office and driving home at the end of the workday. However, when he arrived home and sat down for dinner, he began to shake violently. He had the chills, and when he took his temperature, he had a fever of 100.6 degrees. He laid down in the guest room and decided to stay in there until he got better as he didn’t want to infect his wife, he said.
Despite trips to two different urgent care facilities, he wasn’t tested for the coronavirus at the beginning of his illness as he wasn’t presenting with all the symptoms, and he was just given flu tests which came out negative.
November, who has psoriatic arthritis and diabetes, said looking back he understands why he wasn’t tested at the time as there weren’t enough tests available. When he made a second trip to one of the urgent care locations, he was given an X-ray to see if he had pneumonia. While the health care professionals there read it as negative, it was sent out to a radiologist who noticed spots on his lungs and saw pneumonia.
November said he took his health in his own hands and spoke with an administrator at the urgent care and his call was passed on to one of the heads of the chain, who went through his information and saw the radiologist’s report. It was then the Northport resident was told to get tested for COVID-19. He was able to get the test March 16, but that night his symptoms worsened. His wife called his primary physician where she was instructed to call an ambulance.
EMT personnel soon showed up in full hazmat uniforms, and he was brought to the emergency room at Huntington Hospital. He said the new emergency center has individual rooms with doors so he was able to be isolated as he was in a room for two days until it was determined he should be taken to the critical care unit and be put on a ventilator. Though, he said, he has no recollection of the move to the CCU as he was in a medically-induced coma.
He called the nurses heroes and added that they can’t practice social distancing like others while caring for patients. All they have between themselves and the patients, he added, are gloves, sheer gowns and face coverings.
“They have to trust that they’ll stay safe,” he said. “They’re heroes. They went beyond the extra mile.”
“It’s so important for families and caregivers to have a bond and have communication. It made me a real person.”
— Scott November
November said he is grateful that his caregivers did everything they could to keep in touch with his family regularly through phone calls and FaceTime and answered their questions about his condition since COVID-19 guidelines prevent visitors at hospitals.
“It’s so important for families and caregivers to have a bond and have communication,” he said. “It made me a real person.”
To make up for the lack of family interaction, the nurses hung up family photos and his grandchildren’s drawings on the hospital room walls. His wife, Shelley, said the health care workers felt her family’s desperation, and at times nurses would fix her husband’s hair and even stroke his head to comfort him.
November said he was told there were several patients in the CCU while he was there, and he witnessed health care professionals scrambling to learn more about the novel virus, even joining online forums to talk to other nurses and doctors around the country.
November is grateful to be alive, he said, as he heard that others on ventilators lost their battles against the virus. Not only that, he almost died himself. His wife had received a call during his stint in the hospital that he was close to death, but the nurses tried one more thing. They heard that putting patients in a prone position helped to increase oxygen intake, and they decided to put him on his stomach. The move worked.
While November was in the hospital, his wife, who is 65, also came down with the coronavirus, though she didn’t need to be hospitalized. She said while she was fortunate not to be admitted to the hospital, it was tough dealing with everything, and when she was at her worst, her husband was also at his. Both she and her husband are grateful that their children Jordan, Courtney and Remy were able to help out, leaving groceries by their mother’s door when she needed to quarantine.
When the husband was finally extubated and able to leave the CCU, he said he had no core strength and wasn’t self-sufficient so he was sent to a rehab facility. Then days after entering rehab, he was able to walk 300 feet, climb three flights of stairs and become self-sufficient enough to use the bathroom and groom himself on his own.
On April 17 he left rehab, and after eight days of quarantining at home, he said he was thrilled to see his family, even if it was from a distance.
“There were prayers to God, to Jesus, to Allah. There were prayers to everybody on my behalf.”
— Scott November
When it comes to getting through the rough times, November said he is a big believer in science and knows everything the doctors and nurses did and all the research being done played a part in his recovery. Calling himself an agnostic, he added he also believes it has something to do with the diverse groups of friends he and his wife, as well as his children, have.
“There were prayers to God, to Jesus, to Allah,” November said. “There were prayers to everybody on my behalf.”
He said his recovery and being able to unite with his family is bittersweet though, because he knows of the many lives that have been lost to the coronavirus. Knowing that he is also concerned for those who have not been able to mourn for their loved ones with funerals and services.
“They’re not a number. Each one of them isa human being,” he said. “Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, children, grandchildren, coworkers, friends — they have their camaraderie.”
His wife agreed that families are destroyed, and it’s frustrating for nurses who put the same efforts into everyone’s care.
“It’s really hard to understand why he was spared,” she said. “Why did the universe have mercy on us and not others, and it’s hard to live with that.”
If the trend continues through Monday, Suffolk County will be within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for reopening the economy.
Additionally, the county’s hospitalization rate is also around Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) targeted 70 percent or lower goal, creating health care flexibility in the event of an increase in the incidence of COVID-19.
With Cuomo’s New York Pause set to end on May 15, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said he would continue to discuss ways to restart part of the local economy.
“We are looking at a number of different guideposts for how we reopen and when it makes sense to reopen,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters.
Bellone hopes to have contract tracing and sufficient testing in place to reopen the economy in a safe way. Another target is to keep the rate of transmission per infected individual below one.
“If that gets to 1.1, we are looking at this virus spreading once again,” Bellone said. A worst case scenario would be if the government reopened the economy and then needed to reinstate restrictions, which would cause emotional, psychological and economic devastation, the county executive said.
Bellone indicated that a summer working group, led by Deputy County Executive Jon Kaiman, would likely have guidelines as early as next week for beaches, pools and other facilities.
The summer is “going to be different,” Bellone said. “It’s not back to where we were.”
The number of people infected over the last day continued to rise, climbing 661 to 34,079.
The number of residents in Suffolk County hospitals fell by 35 to 1,047, while the number of people in the Intensive Care Unit also declined 35, to 369.
With hospitals at 74 percent capacity and ICU beds at 69 percent, the county is “right around the numbers where the state says you need to be to reopen the economy in a safe way,” Bellone said.
The number of people who left the hospital rose by 111.
The death rate from complications related to coronavirus continued to climb, as 24 people died over the last day, bringing the total deaths to 1,155.
Separately, Bellone, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY-1) and former National Football League player Gary Brown will host a discussion for veterans tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m. People who would like to listen to the town hall can tune in on facebook live, at facebook.com/SteveBellone.
The six hotspot testing sites had conducted close to 3,000 tests, with 818 positive tests amid the 1,741 with results. That rate is 47 percent, which is slightly lower than yesterday, but still well above the 37 percent for other testing locations. As Bellone announced yesterday, the county is opening another hotspot in Southampton tomorrow.
Bellone said his office has now distributed over 3 million pieces of personal protective equipment. He thanked federal and state governments for their delivery of supplies, which included 600,000 ear loop masks, 843,000 gloves and 42,000 face shields over the last day.
The county executive highlighted the recent donation of 50,000 surgical masks by the Greater New York Automobile Dealer’s Association, which is a part of the association’s effort to distribute half a million surgical masks to counties in the downstate area.
In the Suffolk County Police Department, 86 officers have tested positive and 72 have returned to work.
Members of Stony Brook's medical team throw fists in the air during todays flyover by the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds. Photo by Kyle Barr
After a public effort to gain access to short term funds, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) last night received word that the pleas had paid off.
Members of the non-invasive cardiology department at Stony Brook University Hospital. Photo by Kyle Barr
The Federal Reserve expanded the eligibility requirements in the federal CARES Act to counties that were below the previous threshold of two million residents to provide short term borrowing through a municipal liquidity fund.
“This is a huge short in the arm to our efforts to provide property tax relief to people who have been negatively impacted economically,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters.
The funds will allow the county to access short term borrowing for up to 36 months and will relieve the financial burden that comes from the Suffolk County Tax Act, which prevents the county from receiving funds until the middle of the year. During periods when Suffolk collects typical tax revenue, when residents can enjoy local restaurants, movies, and concerts, the urgency to access funds at a reasonable rate isn’t as high.
“This gives the county the ability to do short-term borrowing to address the cash flow issues that are caused by revenue almost completely drying up because of the wholesale shutdown of certain parts of our economy,” Bellone said.
The County thanked numerous area politicians, including U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) and U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY-1).
Schumer “walked the letter into [Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin’s] office and said, ‘We need to do this,’” Bellone said. “Zeldin lobbied [President Donald Trump (R)] and [Mnuchin] directly. He set up a call with Mnuchin and himself so I could make the case directly about why Suffolk County needs this and why this is so important.”
In the meantime, hospitalizations continue to decline, sustaining a trend that could lead to a measured and gradual reopening of the economy.
The number of hospitalizations declined by 15 to 1,082, with the number of residents in the Intensive Care Unit falling by four to 408.
These declines are getting close to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for 14 days, which is the minimum for restarting and reopening the economy.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said today there has to be ground rules for such a reopening. Hospitals, he said, must be at no more than 70 percent capacity with a rate of transmission no higher than 1.1.
An additional 44 people left the hospital in the last day.
People are still dying from complications related to COVID-19 at a rate that is greater than one per hour, as 29 people died over the last day, bringing the total to 1,131.
In terms of hotspot areas, the six sites have now tested 2,124 people. The county has results for 1,584, with 757 of those confirmed positive. The rate of positive tests is 48 percent, which is still well above the rate of 38 percent for the rest of the county, but is below the initial testing rate of 53 percent.
The county plans to open a seventh testing site on Thursday in Southampton.
Working with Long Island Cares and Island Harvest, the county has also started providing food to people who come to select hotspot testing sites, starting with Brentwood. On Thursday, Wyandanch will also provide food distribution to those receiving a coronavirus test who also need food.
Bellone urged people who are having food security issues to contact 311. Operators will connect residents with agencies that can provide food.
Separately, campgrounds will be closed in line with state guidance through May 31, when the county will revisit the issue. Anyone who has a reservation between April 1 and May 31 will receive a refund.
“Stay tuned as we move forward in May,” Bellone urged those interested in the camp sites.
The Suffolk County Police Department continues to be “fortunate” with the overall rate of COVID-19 infection, as 86 sworn officers have tested positive, with 71 returning to work, Commissioner Geraldine Hart said on the call. Hart attributed the lower rate of infection to the procedures the police department followed early on once the infection reached the shores of Suffolk County.
Dr. Michael H. Brisman, right, receives an award from Kevin Sanders, Center for Science, Teaching, & Learning, acknowledging NSPC’s sponsorship of the nation’s first competition for high school students to focus on STEM/health science.
Sponsors of the second Neurological Surgery, P.C. Health Science Competition, a program of the Center for Science Teaching & Learning, have extended the “virtual” event’s registration deadline to noon on Thursday, May 14, to allow as many Long Island high school students to register as possible.
“The effect of the spread of COVID-19 on everyone who lives on Long Island can’t be understated,” said Michael H. Brisman, M.D., an attending neurosurgeon and chief executive officer of Neurological Surgery, P.C.
“It has no precedent. However, my partners and I decided that at this difficult time a declaration of hope was needed to inspire the young people in our community to continue to look to the future and take an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs. That’s why the second NSPC Health Science Competition will be held as planned, but conducted online to assurethe safety of participants, judges, and educators.”
Moreover, “To allow as many students to participate as possible we’ve changed the event’s registration deadline to Thursday, May 14, from April 30,” said Brisman. Nearly 300 high schools teams have already applied to compete.
A $25 non-refundable registration fee per team applies to all entries. The NSPC HSC is available exclusively to Nassau and Suffolk high school teams. Last year, the competition drew teams from 38 Long Island schools and 50 prize winners shared $80,000 in score-based awards. The 2019 program’s finals were held on the campus of LIU/Post in Greenvale.
To compete, teams will create a Google site and upload: 1) Images of their poster board/digital poster board or a <20 slide PowerPoint presentation; 2) A 10 minute video in which team members can be seen explaining their project, and 3) All executed competition documents.
Further information about how to construct a Google site and other application requirements are available online at www.cstl.org/nspc. Entries must be received by 4 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, May 27. Results to be announced and live streamed on Monday, June 15.
Student teams will be judged in one of five categories: Behavioral Sciences; Biology-Medicine/Health; Biology-Microbiology/Genetics; Health Related Biochemistry/Biophysics, and Bioengineering and Computational Biology. The five first place winners in last year’s competition were Feyi Rufai of Roslyn High School, Alessi Demir of Manhasset High School, Michael Lawes of Elmont Memorial High School, Jason Sitt of Lynbrook Senior High School, and Christopher Lu of John L. Miller Great Neck North High School. Each first place winner received a $5,500 prize. The exact breakdown of prizes can be found at www.cstl.org/nspc/hsc-prizes/.
“The young people who were part of the first competition were brilliant and inspiring. Their understanding of medicine and health-related subjects was impressive. These students are exactly the people we need to address the high demand for STEM, health science, and healthcare-related jobs here on Long Island and across the nation. The first NSPC Health Science Competition (HSC) exceeded our goals in terms of the number of schools and students who competed,” said Brisman.
“I believe the 2020 ‘virtual’ competition will further motivate both those who participate and others, who observed these innovative young people, to pursue their interest and careers in healthcare and related sciences,” he added.
For more information about the NSPC Health Science Competition, complete competition rules, and deadlines, please visit www.cstl.org/nspc or call 516-764-0045.
The pace at which people are leaving hospitals in Suffolk County continues to be higher than the rate at which residents are entering, easing the burden on health care workers and on a system pushed close to capacity two weeks ago.
Over the last day, the number of people in hospitals from complications related to Covid-19 declined by 41 to 1,134.
“That’s still a very big number, but is much lower than its peak level,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters.
The number of people who are using Intensive Care Unit beds fell by 10 to 443.
At the same time, 109 residents have been discharged from the hospital.
“We wish them a speedy, continued recovery,” Bellone said.
Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the initial preliminary plans for reopening the state. Phase 1, he said, would include opening it up for construction and manufacturing with “low risk.” Phase 2 would include a matrix of other nonessential businesses. There would be a two-week period in between each phase to monitor the effects. It would also be in coordination with surrounding states.
No large places that would facilitate gathering would open during that time of transition, the governor said. The first businesses to reopen would likely be upstate, which has seen much less impact than the downstate counties have seen.
Suffolk County delivered another 210,000 pieces of personal protective equipment yesterday. The county also received supplies from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which include 7,100 gloves, 800 face shields, 5,000 surgical masks, hundreds of protective suits, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes and ice packs.
Bellone offered his thanks to Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY-1) on delivering personal protective equipment.
The county executive also highlighted the United Way Covid19 Fund, which provides support to people in need who have lost their jobs or have been furloughed. People interested in seeking support from the fund can go to UnitedWayLI.org.
Bellone highlighted the rescue efforts of Matthew Honce of East Patchogue, who pulled a Medford man who was treading water out of Bellport Bay on Saturday. The man had been treading water for 15 minutes when Honce pulled him out.
“I want to say a big thank you to a good samaritan, who is a great example of the kind of people we have in this county,” Bellone said. “What could have been a tragedy [wasn’t]” thanks to Honce and the Suffolk County Marine Bureau.
Two weeks have made a huge difference for the health care community in the fight against COVID-19.
On April 10, hospitals throughout Suffolk County were struggling as 1,658 residents needed medical help to cope with the symptoms related to COVID-19. At the time, the Army Corps. of Engineers was racing to construct a hospital extension at Stony Brook that might handle more cases if the county continued on its trajectory.
Fortunately, the number of hospitalizations turned around, falling for the first time two days later, beginning a trend, with a few rises here and there, of fewer hospitalizations.
Indeed, over the last day, the number of people in Suffolk County hospitals declined by 143 people to 1,175, which means that, from the peak, the number of people separated from their homes and families has declined by over 29 percent.
This is “ great news,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters. Bellone has been in the unenviable position of sharing details about the numbers of people who have been sick or who have died each day. The reduction in hospitalizations is a “huge jump, which is much higher than we’ve seen over the past few weeks,” he said.
Indeed, looking back to the dark days when the county became an epicenter for the virus, Bellone said his team had to discuss where to create a makeshift morgue, in the event that those who died exceeded the county’s capacity.
The county had considered using an ice rink as a temporary facility. Bellone nixed that, recognizing that children would eventually skate on that rink again. Instead, the county found an old processing facility, which they hoped they wouldn’t have to use but “unfortunately we have.”
As the Army Corps. of Engineers completed the construction of the Stony Brook Hospital Extension, Bellone again hoped the county wouldn’t need the additional hospital beds. So far, that has been the case, which, the county executive said, is a tribute to the residents who have respected social distancing rules and who have endured economic hardship as they have shuttered their businesses and remained at home.
The hospital extension is “empty today because of what everyone has been doing, because of the sacrifices that are being made right now,” Bellone said. “We have seen the incredible courage and bravery that has been displayed by health care workers and first responder agencies who have put themselves at risk. That is the reason why that hospital stands empty today.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced new testing initiatives for those “essential” employees, including restaurant workers, grocery store workers, banks, laundromats and gas stations, just to name a few examples. The governor added it could be used for health care workers.
Testing of this kind is largely going to be handled by pharmacies. Cuomo said he will be signing an executive order allowing 5,000 independent pharmacies access to the testing.
In the last 24 hours, the number of people who have been discharged from the hospital has increased to 147, which is “another great number and a positive sign,” Bellone said.
The Intensive Care Unit has also experienced a drop in the number of patients, with a decline of 25 to 453.
The number of ICU beds currently available is 179, which is more than four times the number of beds available on April 10th, when the ICU had a low of 43 remaining beds in that unit.
Over the last 24 hours, the number of residents testing positive for Covid-19 has increased by 891 to 32,185, Bellone said. In total, the six hotspot sites have now conducted tests on 1,916 residents.
While the public health trends have been improving, the number of families who have suffered irretrievable losses through the pandemic have also passed a horrific milestone. Over the last 24 hours, the number of people who have died was 49, which means that one Suffolk County resident passed away each half hour. The total number of dead in Suffolk County from complications related to coroanvirus has climbed over 1,000, reaching 1,042.
The number of people who have died “continues to be staggering,” Bellone said, as he offered his thoughts and prayers to those who mourn the loss of family, friends, and neighbors.
Bellone’s office continues to look for personal protective equipment to help first responders and health care workers who are looking to heal and provide comfort to those afflicted with the disease. Bellone’s office has received another 100,000 ear loop masks and 3,000 face shields as a part of the county’s procurement order.
Continuing a process that began yesterday at a Stop & Shop in West Babylon, Bellone distributed cloth face coverings that he received from the federal and state governments to seniors at Leisure Village, Leisure Knolls and Leisure Glen. He was joined by Sarah Anker (D-Mt. Sinai).
“People were very happy to receive those face coverings,” Bellone said. “It’s important to distribute those out to the most vulnerable in our community.”
Bellone said the distribution plan for those face coverings would also include people who live in hotspot communities.
“We will be working with community-based organizations to identify need,” Bellone said.
For those looking to get back on the links, Bellone said golf courses will reopen starting on Monday, in line with the state policy. Golfers will be expected to follow social distancing guidelines and will need to spread out tee times by 15 minutes. Golfers can not use carts.
“If you want to come out, you have to walk the course, follow the additional guidance that is in place to reduce contact and help prevent transmission of the virus,” Bellone said.
In his ongoing effort to provide temporary property tax relief, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) spoke with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin last night.
Bellone said the conversation was “positive” and he hopes to hear back soon about whether Suffolk County, which is short of the required population size, can access the municipal liquidity fund.
Bellone thanked Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY-1) for facilitating the call and supporting the county’s bid to tap into short term borrowing created by the federal CARES Act.
Bellone also announced that former County Attorney Dennis Cohen would return to his former role.
“This is even more critical to us now because of he crisis and because of the long road ahead on recovery we know we will have,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters.
As testing continues throughout Long Island, including at hotspots including Coram which began today, the number of people who have a positive diagnosis for COVID-19 has continued to climb. For the first time in several days, that number rose by over 1,000, bringing the total to 31,294.
“That is higher than what we’ve been seeing over the last week,” Bellone said.
Bellone also announced that the county was piloting a food assistance program at the Brentwood testing site.
On the state side, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said he would soon be making a decision whether schools will be closed for the rest of the school year. The question will depend on where they see the resiliency of the virus, and also ongoing fears for another peak somewhere later in the year. Doctors are concerned that peak could come at a time when the nation would be going through its regular flu season as well.
On the positive side, total hospitalizations continue to decline, driven down by another triple digit number of discharges.
The total hospitalizations fell by 22 to 1,318. The number of people in Intensive Care Unit beds also declined by 16 to 478.
The ICU decline “is very good news,” Bellone said.
The number of people who have left the hospital over the last day was 132.
The number of people who died rose by 34 to 993. That includes the first Long Island Railroad Employee who passed away from complications related to coronavirus.
“I want to acknowledge and thank the employees of the Long Island Railroad today,” Bellone said. They have “stood up and met the challenge” created by COVID-19 and have “done an amazing job.”
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