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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone

Stony Brook University's COVID-19 testing site. Photo by Matthew Niegocki

With 694 more people testing positive for the coronavirus, the number of confirmed cases in Suffolk County is now 40,483.

In the Suffolk County hotspot testing sites, the number of positive tests was 1,320 out of 3,412 total tests.

The percentage of positive tests at these hotspots is 38.7, compared with 33 percent for the county as a whole.

Antibody testing for law enforcement continues, with 1,581 law enforcement officers tested by Northwell Health and New York State so far.

The number of people who have died from complications related to coronavirus increased by 21 in the last day, bringing the total to 1,568 for Suffolk County. As of yesterday, the deaths from the virus exceed the number of people killed over 100 years ago aboard the Titanic. The staggering number represents what will likely be a turning point for the county, let alone the entire country which topped 77,000 deaths.

County Executive Steve Bellone’s (D) office distributed another 163,000 pieces of personal protective equipment yesterday, bringing the total number of such life-saving items to over four million since the crisis began in March.

Bellone didn’t have the closely watched hospitalization information today because the reporting system was down.

Separately, Bellone said the county was able to honor the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

“Today, we would normally be bringing together our veterans and particularly our World War II veterans to honor them and thank them for what they did for our nation,” said Bellone during his daily call with reporters.

A group including Suffolk County Chief of Police Stuart Cameron and Suffolk County Veterans Services Agency Director Thomas Ronayne raised an American flag above Armed Forces Plaza today. The group saluted the flag and then brought it to the state veteran’s home.

That home has been hit especially hard by the pandemic. As of May 5, the home reported 65 residents have passed away due to the coronavirus. Additionally, 68 residents have tested positive, where out of those four are receiving treatment at neighboring Stony Brook University Hospital. 30 of those veterans are in the post-COVID recovery phase.

Bellone said the county also celebrated the graduation of 70 members of the police academy. While the ceremony was different than it otherwise would have been prior to the pandemic, the event, which was broadcast on Facebook, was watched by more than 25,000 people.

“Their willingness to step forward at any given moment to risk their lives for strangers is an extraordinary thing,” Bellone said. “We thanked them and their family members.”

Separately, as for the national and local elections coming this November, Bellone said he hopes the bipartisan cooperation that has characterized the response in Suffolk County and New York will continue.

“I don’t know if we’re going to see that on a national level [but] at the local level, we are working together in ways we haven’t in many years, maybe not since 9/11,” Bellone said. “That’s what we should do.”

Bellone suggested the county didn’t have “time to spare to worry about partisan nonsense.”

He pointed out how he and Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr. (R), who ran against Bellone to become county executive, have been “working closely together to address issues here. I’m hopeful that will continue.”

Stony Brook Closes Satellite ER

Stony Brook University is closing the emergency room field satellite in the South P Lot amid a decline in the number of patients.

The hospital will keep equipment inside the tents in case of future need. The health care workers who had been staffing the field site will return to the hospital.

Stony Brook had seen approximately 2,600 patients at the coronavirus triage sites.

The drive-through testing site in the South P Lot will remain open. That site has tested 27,515 patients.

Residents who would like a test need to make appointments in advance, by calling 888-364-3065. The site is open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Stony Brook University Hospital’s Team Lavender, and a Staff Support Team, delivered care packages to the employees at the Long Island State Veterans Home. The team put together 170 containers filled with donated items from the community including gum, chapsticks, drinks and snacks. They also included trays of home-baked goods, crocheted ear savers, and masks made by a veteran.

Team Lavender volunteers include doctors, nurses, social workers, patient advocates, chaplains, a faculty and staff care team, employee assistance program and employee health program. The team provides emotional, spiritual and psychological support for faculty and staff after an adverse or unexpected event.

Team Lavender completed a successful pilot during the last year in the NICU and maternity units. Team Lavender has worked together with the Staff Support Team to provide hospital wide support. Their efforts, previously performed in-person, are now available virtually for faculty and staff.

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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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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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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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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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Even as Suffolk County emerges from the worst of the public health crisis from COVID-19, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) expressed concern about the mental health toll the last few weeks has taken on residents.

“Throughout the crisis, we have talked about mental health,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters. “As we move forward, it’s going to become a more important issue.”

People have been reacting to the crisis and helping others. During these stressors, residents have been “going on instinct” and are “exhausted,” Bellone said. “It’s when you start to slow down a bit or move away, that a lot of what you’ve encountered, what you’ve faced can start to manifest itself.”

He anticipates seeing more mental health challenges as the county moves out of this crisis period.

Bellone said he has encouraged residents to contact his office through 311 if they are dealing with mental health challenges, such as depression or anxiety. The Family Service League has provided health care for first responders, health care workers and veterans through a hotline.

The scale of the losses during the pandemic through April has been enormous, Bellone said. With an additional 26 people dying over the last day from complications related to COVID-19, the number of deaths for the county has reached 1,203.

The number of deaths highlights the reason residents in the county need to follow social distancing guidelines and remain at home, to the extent possible. Each day, the county moves closer to the 14-day period during which hospitalizations from COVID-19 decrease, which the county will reach if the declines continue through May 5.

In the last day, 67 fewer people were in the hospital from the virus, bringing the total to 903. Even as some residents were admitted to the hospital, 98 people left the hospital to continue their recoveries at home.

The number of people in the Intensive Care Unit from the virus has also dropped by 20 to 324.

In the last 24 hours, the county has also distributed 37,000 personal protective equipment, bringing the total to over 3.1 million since the pandemic reached Long Island.

Suffolk Forward Business Programs

Separately, the county executive announced a program to support small businesses called Suffolk Forward. Designed with Stony Brook University College of Business, the programs were created to help Suffolk County businesses respond to the current economic reality and develop ways to use resources.

Businesses will have the chance to gather information about new ways to increase revenue, build on their technology tools, refine business models, and receive individualized expert business advice.

Suffolk County and its partners will send a needs assessment survey to the restaurant, retail, and construction industries. After reading the replies, Stony Brook University will provide needed services and will report and track the results.

The first effort is the Suffolk Forward Gift Card Platform, which provides a one stop shop for Suffolk County residents to pre-purchase goods and services to support local retail and services businesses during the pandemic. The platform, which was created by Huntington-based eGifter, is free for businesses to participate. To purchase gift cards online, or to have your business feature on the web platform, click here.

The second initiative is the Suffolk Forward Job Board, which provides Suffolk County Residents with access to regional job opportunities and businesses with a pool of applicants seeking new jobs. Suffolk County will provide new details over time.

The last three initiative, Tech Enhancement Program, the Suffolk Forward “Pandemic Shift” Business Workshops, and the Suffolk Forward Virtual Expert Network, provide small businesses with Stony Brook support and education services.

Through the Tech Enhancement Program, local businesses can identify their business technology needs and Stony Brook University business, computer science and IT students, under the direction of faculty, will assess the technology needs of each business and advise the owners. Technology can help businesses reopen during the pandemic and stay open.

The Suffolk Forward “Pandemic Shift” Business Workshops, which are coordinated by the Stony Brook University College of Business, offer a series of four 90-minute video workshops and peer support to help small businesses deal with four key steps: hope, survival, focus and pivot.

The Suffolk Forward Virtual Expert Network provides small businesses with complimentary consultation via virtual office hours with Stony Brook University College of Business professors. The free sessions aim to provide business leaders with the tools that could help them tackle ongoing business challenges.

New York Closes All Schools Until End of School Year

With the question hanging above educators heads for the past month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) finally announced all schools in the state will remain closed until the end of the school year due to the ongoing pandemic. The decision applies to both grade school and higher education, and will mandate the use of distance learning for the next several months.

“Teachers did a phenomenal job stepping up to do this,” Cuomo said. “We made the best of a situation.”

The governor added with the number of school districts and children, it mandates precautions to protect young and old during the pandemic. He said it would not be possible to create a system that would socially distance children while also transporting them and keeping them in schools.

The decision also waives the requirement districts have 180 days of learning per school year.

Regarding in-person summer school, the governor said a decision will be made by the end of May.

On the topic of summer camps, Cuomo said just as he was leaving the press briefing that “whatever regional decision will also apply to the summer camps.”

SC Supervisors Discuss Summer

Meanwhile, the Suffolk County Supervisors Association announced a joint planning effort with three Nassau County Town Supervisors to develop ways to coordinate summer programs across all 13 towns. The group, which Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer is leading, is known as the Nassau/ Suffolk County Summer Operations Task Force.

The group, which met on Zoom for the first time today, dealt with a number of issues. They wanted to ensure consistent social distancing guidelines across communities.

They also planned to sync the timing of beach, park and facilities as much as they could, to ensure variation among areas doesn’t lead to a surge in crowding at any location. If they needed to close beaches, they also wanted to prevent crowds from forming in any town.

Uniform policies for beach usage, park activity and playground policies will ensure the safest approach to these areas, the supervisors said.

The group announced a goal of May 18 to issue guidelines the towns could agree on.

“Just as we consider the shared service model for other purposes, from purchasing to relieving overcrowding at our animal shelters, inconsistency in policies can lead to greater demand and greater risk at a single location, which we intend to avoid as the purpose of this collaboration,” said Town of Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci (R). “Each Town has something to offer from our parks and beaches to our waterfront facilities — we want our residents and their families to enjoy everything our Towns have to offer without adding unnecessary risk.”

Beaches Open for Hiking and Jogging, not Swimming

Meanwhile, Brookhaven Town will open West Meadow, Cedar in Mount Sinai and Corey in Blue Point.

The Town is not opening the beach at these locations. Prohibited items and activities include chairs, umbrellas, blankets, coolers, fishing, congregating and any sporting activity. Dogs are also not allowed. No lifeguards will be on duty.

Residents will be allowed to walk, hike, and jog at these beaches as long as they maintain social distancing. Masks are recommended. Parking will be limited to 50% of capacity. Code enforcement and parks staff will maintain parking limits and patrol areas to ensure social distancing compliance.

The rules allow for passive uses only. People can’t congregate or engage in sports activities, or use playground equipment. People are also not allowed to shake hands or engage in any unnecessary physical contact. There is no fishing, swimming, blankets, coolers, umbrellas or beach chairs. Social distancing requires six feet between people who don’t live in the same home.  When residents can’t social distance, they have to wear face coverings.

Residents with coughs or fever are not permitted. The restrooms are closed. The town encourages people to limit their stays to allow other residents to enjoy the areas. Once the maximum 50% capacity is reached in the parking lots, they will close. As cars leave, others can visit.

With additional reporting by Rita Egan and Kyle Barr

Suffolk's own data shows areas with large numbers of black and latino populations have been impacted greatly by the ongoing pandemic. Photo screenshot from Suffolk data map

Black and Latino communities have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and on Long Island where communities are as segregated as they are, much of it comes down to geography.

COVID-19 cases in Suffolk County have an identifiable curve. Data on maps provided by Suffolk County show a darkening red on a path rolling from the eastern end of the Island toward the west, homing in on the western center of the Island — Wyandanch, Brentwood and Huntington Station. In such areas, data also shows, is also where many minority communities live.

Suffolk County health services commissioner Gregson Pigott shares COVID facts in Spanish online April 8. Photo from Facebook video

Data from New York State’s Department of Health maps shows the coronavirus has disproportionately harmed black and Latino communities. Brentwood in particular has shown 3,473 cases, or nearly 55 per 1,000 persons. New York State Education Department data shows the Brentwood school district, as just an example, is nearly 85 percent Latino and almost 10 percent black. Huntington Station, another example of a location with large black and Latino populations, has just over 1,000 cases, or 33 persons per 1,00 have the virus. As testing continues, those numbers continue to grow.

Though data showing the numbers of COVID-19 deaths is out of date, numbers from New York’s Covid tracker website show the percent of black residents who died from the virus was 12 percent, higher than the 8 percent share of the overall Suffolk population. For Latino residents, the fatality percent was 14 percent, lower than their population of 19 percent.

While whites make up 81 percent of the population, their proportion of residents confirmed with the virus is only 64 percent. If the white population were suffering the same proportionate death ratio higher than their overall population, then dozens more white people would have already perished from COVID-19.

“I’m not surprised by the information given,” said Brookhaven town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station). “We need to be testing as much as possible, we need to be tracing, we need to make sure once we get that under control, we need to make sure people get treated.”

The COVID Hot Zones

Toward the beginning of April, Suffolk County established three “hot spot” testing centers in Wyandanch, Brentwood and Huntington. Those sites quickly established a higher rate of positive cases compared to the county’s other sites, especially the testing center at Stony Brook University. A little more than a week ago, such hot spot sites were showing 53 percent of those tested were positive. On Tuesday, April 29, that number dropped slightly to 48 percent hot spot positive tests compared to 38 percent for the rest of the county.

Though such testing centers didn’t arrive until more than a month into the crisis, county leadership said plans for such sites developed as data slowly showed where peak cases were. 

“When we started working with the IT department to find the addresses where these cases were, Southold was leading,” said Dr. Gregson Pigott, the Suffolk Department of Health Services commissioner. “Then Huntington Station became the hot spot. Then Brentwood became the leader in cases, and to this day Brentwood has the most cases.”

Suffolk County has also started plans for recovery after things finally start to open up. The Recovery Task Force is being headed by multiple partners, including Vanessa Baird Streeter, an assistant deputy county executive.

The task force will need to provide aid, but Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said there needs to be emphasis on addressing the glaring inequities, and put an emphasis on “coming back stronger.”

“There’s no question the issue is we know there have been disparities,” he said. “The crisis like this is only going to exacerbate those issues and have those disparities grow.”

But as it became clear to officials the virus was greatly impacting the majority of minority communities harder than others, said communities were watching day by day how the virus was upending lives, infecting whole households and leaving many without any chance of providing for their families.

Latino Community During Coronavirus

Martha Maffei, the executive director for Latino and immigrant advocacy group SEPA Mujer, said Latino communities are hit so hard especially because of many people’s employment. Either they were effectively let go, or they are working in jobs that if they tried to take time off, they would be out of a job. Instead, such workers, even in what has already been deemed “nonessential business,” are still going to work even in places where workers have already gotten sick.

“We were receiving calls of jobs they know the workplace has been infected, they continue to ask employees to come to work,” she said. “They don’t have the option to say no, because they’re basically forcing them and they don’t want to lose their jobs.”

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in early April found approximately 41 percent of Latinos have lost their jobs since the start of the pandemic, compared to just 24 percent white and 32 blacks being laid off or furloughed. This jives with research showing about 50 percent of people on the lower income scale have either lost their job or had to take a pay cut.

Many who relied on their jobs to support their families have now lost them completely, and since many are undocumented, they have no access to any kind of federal assistance. In homes that are often multigenerational and cramped, workers out on the front lines come home and have very little means of sequestering themselves.

SEPA Mujer shows their support for immigrants by donning yellow bracelets. File photo by Sara-Megan Walsh

SEPA Mujer also advocates for women in violent domestic situations, and Maffei said its crisis hotline phone has been ringing daily. Bellone has told reporters the incidents of domestic violence are up 3.5 percent from early to mid April.

At issue is the immigrant community’s trust in local government and law enforcement, and that same government’s ability to get the life-saving and virus-mitigating information to them.

The hot spot testing centers now include Spanish-speaking translators, at least one per each, according to Pigott. Bellone also announced, working with nonprofits Island Harvest and Long Island Cares, they are providing food assistance to visitors at the testing sites. Brentwood is already seeing those activities, and Wyandanch will also start providing food April 30.

When the first hot spot site opened in Huntington Station, Maffei said she had clients who were struggling to schedule an appointment. Though she suspects it has gotten better with more sites opening up in western Suffolk, true help to the community should come in the form of facilitating access to information. 

“We’re trying to do the best we can, but a lot of people don’t have access to the internet, don’t have Facebook,” Maffei said. 

Pigott related the county is providing multi-language information via their website and brochures at the testing sites, but community advocates argue there is a demand for such details of where people can get tested and how they can prevent infection, straight into the hands of people, possibly through mailings or other mass outreach.

Why Minority Communities are Vulnerable

Medical and social scientists, in asking the first and likely most important question, “why?” said the historic inequities in majority minority populations are only exacerbated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

Dr. Johanna Martinez, a physician with Northwell, is in the midst of helping conduct a research project to work out the variables that are leading to how the pandemic has deepened and exacerbated existing inequities.

“It’s not something biological that is different between black and Latino people. It really is the historical inequities, like racism, that has led to the patients being marginalized,” Martinez said. “It is most closely linked to social determinants.”

The links are plain, she said, in socioeconomic status, and perhaps most importantly, one’s access to health care. Immigrant communities are especially likely to lack insurance and easy communication with doctors. It’s hard for one to know if one’s symptoms should necessitate a hospital visit if one also doesn’t have a doctor within phone’s reach. It also means an increased spread of the virus and a potential increased load on hospitals.

“If you’re uninsured, the place where you’re going to get health care from is the emergency room,” the Northwell doctor said. “Right now, we’re trying to use telemedicine, but if you don’t have an established primary care doctor, you don’t have the ability to speak to the doctor of the symptoms you’re having and if this is something you can stay home for or go to the hospital.”

Current data released by New York State has mostly been determining age, as its well-known vulnerable people include the elderly, but Martinez’ data is adjusting for other things like comorbidities. Data shows that diabetes, hypertension and obesity put one at a higher risk for COVID-19-related death, and studies have shown poorer or communities of people of color are at higher risk for such diseases. 

“It’s almost like a double whammy,” she said. “It’s something that makes them even more vulnerable to a very serious disease.”

“It’s not something biological that is different between black and Latino people. It really is the historical inequities, like racism, that has led to the patients being marginalized.”

— Dr. Johanna Martinez

Housing is also a factor. Once one leaves the hospital, or on recommendation from a doctor, it’s easy to tell people who are showing symptoms to isolate a certain part of the house, but for a large family living in a relatively small space, that might just be impossible.

Whether Suffolk’s numbers detailing the number of confirmed COVID patients is accurate, Martinez said she doubts it, especially looking at nationally. Newsday recently reported, upon looking at towns’ death certificates compared to New York’s details on fatalities, there could be many more COVID deaths than currently thought.

“We need more testing to see the prevalence in certain communities,” she said.

Cartright, who works as a civil rights attorney, said these factors are what the government should be looking at as the initial wave of COVID-19 patients overall declines.

“We know black people are dying at a disproportionate rate,” she said. “We need to look at how many people are living in the same household, how many people actually have health care, how many are undocumented who were scared of going to the emergency room. There are so many factors we need to be able to take a look at.” 

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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.

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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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Several weeks after viral hotspot testing sites in Suffolk County opened, the percentage of positive tests is coming back higher than for other areas.

After 1,077 people were tested in six sites, including Huntington Station and Wyandanch, 577 people tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.

“That is definitely a lot higher than the overall number in the county, which stands at 40 percent,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said on his daily conference call with reporters.

By testing in these communities, the county hopes not only to get an idea of the rate of infection in these areas, but also to communicate the importance of social distancing and isolating for people who have positive tests.

“By doing the testing, we have the direct one-on-one contact with patients and it is with Spanish speaking health professionals who can have an effective dialog,” Bellone said. The communication is “well-received by the patients.”

For some residents who live in more densely populated areas or who share a home with others who might have underlying medical conditions or whose age makes them vulnerable to the virus, the county has offered housing on a case-by-case bases, Bellone said. That has included hotels and shelters.

These situations could include people who are “coming out of a hospital where there is an issue in a home with vulnerable people,” Bellone said. “It’s not just with hotspot areas.”

Bellone also shared the results of broader testing throughout New York that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has conducted to determine the rate of infection, which could include people who were asymptomatic or who had mild symptoms that dissipated quickly enough not to merit testing.

Based on preliminary data, Suffolk County could have about 250,000 people who have the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

If that’s the case, “that tells us that there are a huge number of people who have had the virus and didn’t know they had it,” Bellone said. A scaled up testing program to detect the presence or the virus or of antibodies, along with an aggressive contact tracing program, could enable the county to contain the virus.

That could mean that Suffolk County could “reopen our economy with protective measures in place,” Bellone said. The testing and contact tracing, which former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Johns Hopkins University committed to supporting, are “very good news,” with the caveat that the county needs to “see those full results,” Bellone added.

The number of people who tested positive in the county in the last day was 709, which means that more than 30,000 people have received positive tests for the coronavirus.

The closely-watched hospitalization number dropped again in the last day, falling by 37 to 1,340 residents. The number of people in Intensive Care Unit beds has also declined by five to 494.

For the second straight day, about 10 percent of the population of people with COVID-19, or 131 people, have been discharged from the hospital.

The death toll also continues to climb towards 1,000, with 33 people dying from complications related to COVID-19, bringing the number for the county to 959.

On the supply front, the county executive’s office distributed over 24,000 pieces of personal protective equipment yesterday. The county also received 80,000 ear loop masks from New York State.

The procurement team in Bellone’s office received 27,000 isolation gowns, which have been in short supply and high demand.

The Stony Brook University Hospital extension, which was an all-out effort as the hospitalization was climbing dramatically, is completed. The beds at the facility are not occupied.

“I don’t think there are plans right now” to use those beds, Bellone said. “We are working to prevent a second wave rom happening. We know that has happened in past pandemics.”