Suffolk County officials reported 156 new confirmed cases of coronavirus yesterday, with the total rising to 459.
During a press briefing yesterday, County Executive Steve Bellone, who remains quarantined at home due to contact with a member of his senior staff who contracted COVID-19, said the rate of coronavirus infection in the county is actually much greater than the number of confirmed cases, Bellone said yesterday, because only 2,001 tests had been reported in Suffolk to date.
Bellone said the county had confirmed four COVID-19 deaths as of yesterday, including three residents at Peconic Landing. Details about the fourth death could not yet be disclosed, pending notification of next of kin, Bellone said.
“The virus is widespread throughout the county,” Bellone said.
Researchers at Columbia University estimate that the number of undetected cases is actually 11 times more than the number officially reported after testing confirms an infection.
The growth in the number of infections is driven by people with mild symptoms who are carrying and spreading the virus without being aware that they have it, the researchers told The New York Times.
Confirmed cases have now been reported in all 10 Suffolk County towns, Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said yesterday. About half of the 459 confirmed cases in Suffolk have been people in their 40s and 50s, Pigott said.
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The county reported the following breakdown by town as of yesterday afternoon:
- Babylon: 68 patients
- Brookhaven: 54 patients
- East Hampton: 4 patients
- Huntington: 97 patients
- Islip: 85 patients
- Riverhead: 9 patients
- Shelter Island: 1 patient
- Smithtown: 29 patients
- Southampton: 11 patients
- Southold: 64 patients
- Town currently unavailable: 37 patients
As of yesterday afternoon, New York State reported 7,102 confirmed cases in 23 counties across the state. There were more than 4,400 cases in New York City alone.
While the CDC and N.Y. State Department of Health websites generally update their numbers once per day, the Johns Hopkins University global tracking system reports confirmed cases in close to real time. This morning, the Johns Hopkins tracker says New York has 8,403 confirmed cases and 46 deaths.
A Suffolk County police officer in the department’s highway patrol bureau has been confirmed with COVID-19, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said yesterday.
There have been no confirmed cases among inmates, corrections officers or staff at either of the Suffolk County correctional facilities, Sgt. Paul Spinella, a spokesperson for Sheriff Errol Toulon, told RiverheadLOCAL yesterday.
Playgrounds have been closed at all county and town parks, though the parks remain open for public use.
Access and parking fees are waived at Suffolk County Parks. Riverhead Town is honoring 2019 beach permits and parking stickers until further notice.
President signs ‘major disaster’ declaration for N.Y. as governor effectively shuts the state down
President Donald Trump yesterday signed a major disaster declaration for the State of New York, ordering federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in areas affected by the coronavirus disease.
The declaration comes after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he had signed an executive order effectively shutting down the state except for “essential” businesses and services. The order also canceled all non-essential gatherings of any size.
Cuomo directed people to maintain six feet of distance between themselves and all others. Outdoor recreational activities are limited to non-contact sports and activities. Sick people shouldn’t leave home unless it is to receive medical care, and only after a telehealth visit. And people should avoid public transportation unless absolutely necessary.
The governor yesterday also announced “Matilda’s Law” — named for his mother — to protect the state’s most vulnerable populations, including people age 70 and older, people with compromises immune systems and those with underlying illnesses. Those individuals should remain indoors except for solitary outdoor exercise. All visitors and aides to homes of vulnerable populations must be screened by having their temperature taken. Vulnerable people should wear masks when in the company of others and anyone in the presence of someone in a vulnerable population should wear a mask, to the greatest extent possible.
Earlier in the day yesterday, the governor directed all personal care service businesses closed by 8 p.m. today. These include hair salons, barber shops, nail salons, tattoo or piercing parlors, hair removal services and related services.
The governor previously ordered closed indoor shopping malls, restaurants, bars, theaters, casinos, bowling alleys and indoor recreation facilities.
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