RiverheadLOCAL

COVID-19 test positivity rates in Riverhead have averaged over 4% for 10 days, according to Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar. Total confirmed COVID cases among Riverhead Town residents have increased by 134 new confirmed cases in the past two weeks, according to data provided by the Suffolk County health department. Full story.

The Riverhead school district is working with Suffolk County to begin a voluntary, in-school COVID-19 testing program to test approximately 20% of the school population — staff, students, and faculty — over a two-week period, beginning Friday. Full story.

Two elementary school students have tested positive for COVID-19, the Riverhead Central School District announced this afternoon. Full story.

Riverhead has been identified as an area approaching COVID-19 “micro-cluster status”, the town supervisor warned. Designation as a micro-cluster focus area would mean tighter restrictions on Riverhead businesses, schools and residents. Full story.

Inmate visits will be suspended as of the end of the day Saturday, Nov. 21 to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19, as the infection rate in the county increases, Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. announced today. Full story.

Hospitalizations in New York exceeded 2,000 for the first time since June 10. COVID test positivity rates continue to climb, reaching a statewide positivity rate of 3.2% Monday. Full story.

Six employees at the Riverhead Friendly's have tested positive for COVID-19, county health officials said today. Full story.

Riverhead elementary school students will not be back in school five days a week until Jan. 11, officials announced, after several new COVID-19 infections were reported in multiple Riverhead schools this evening. Pulaski Street School will also be closed to in-person instruction through Nov. 30. Full story.

The county health commissioner said the health department will redirect its resources to focus on investigating community spread of COVID-19, since it has become "increasingly clear" the disease is spreading through gatherings outside of school, rather than in schools. Full story.

Confirmed positive COVID cases in Riverhead residents have risen nearly 14% since the beginning of the month — nearly double the case increase in the county as a whole. Full story.

Pulaski Street School will be closed tomorrow because three teachers there have tested positive for COVID-19, the school district announced. Full story.

More than five months after his discharge from the hospital, where he spent 50 days battling COVID, Dan Leonard, 73, still suffers from an array of symptoms, some of them debilitating. Full story.

COVID-19 is already the third-leading cause of death in the U.S., behind heart disease and cancer, based on recent years' mortality data from the CDC — more than accidents, respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimers and influenza. COVID deaths so far this year exceed the total number of all influenza deaths during the past six flu seasons. In the seven-day period ending Thursday, 7,952 Americans died of COVID-19. For perspective: that’s equivalent to the number of fatalities if 22 fully occupied Boeing 747 jets crashed and killed everyone on board. Full story.

Another Riverhead elementary school will be closed until Nov. 30, following a new diagnosis of COVID-19 in a teacher, one day after the school district announced a student at the school had tested positive. Full story.

With coronavirus infections increasing rapidly across the state, Bellone warned residents today that the county could be entering a “dangerous period” of the outbreak, and Cuomo said further statewide restrictions may be necessary to curb the spread. Full story.

A student at Phillips Avenue Elementary School has been confirmed positive for the coronavirus, as the virus continues to surge on Long Island and across the state. Full story.

A non-instructional employee at Pulaski Street School has tested positive for the disease, Interim Superintendent Christine Tona announced in a letter to the community last night. Full story.

Restaurants, bars and gyms in New York State must end indoor and outdoor service after 10 p.m. each day under a new curfew that will take effect Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in a phone conference this afternoon. Full story.

Two non-instructional staff members — one at Riverhead High School and another at Roanoke Avenue Elementary School — have tested positive, as has a teacher at the high school, Interim Superintendent Christine Tona said in a letter to district families today. Full story.

A grim County Executive Steve Bellone warned residents today that there is 'large community spread" of the coronavirus in Suffolk again. In Riverhead, the school district reported three more cases among staff and a large number of close contacts and said one of its elementary schools would be shut until after Thanksgiving. Full story.

The one-day increase in new confirmed cases is the biggest Suffolk has seen since early May. Full story.

The North Fork Country Club in Cutchogue has had its liquor license summarily suspended after hosting a “super-spreader” event last month that led to at least 34 COVID-19 infections, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today. Full story.

It’s not looking good for high school winter sports this year, according to state officials , who say with the coronavirus infection rate going up across the state, they are “not inclined to go ahead with opening winter sports at this time." Full story.

New York State’s positivity rate — the ratio of positive test results to the total tests reported — climbed to 2.4% Saturday, up from 2.2% Friday. Suffolk's positivity rate climbed to 2.7%. Full story.

Suffolk County's positivity rate was 2.5%. Riverhead had 38 new confirmed cases Nov. 1 through Nov. 6. Full story.

Data reported yesterday by the State Department of Health showed statewide 2% of the 160,705 people tested Thursday were positive for the for the virus. Full story.

As confirmed coronavirus cases pass the 50,000 mark in Suffolk, the test positivity rate climbs and COVID hospitalizations reach highest number since the region entered phase four of reopening on July 8. Full story.

Restaurants, still operating under 50% indoor capacity limits established by the governor’s executive order in response to the coronavirus pandemic, need outdoor dining to help them survive. Full story.

Large social gatherings this month, including one on the North Fork, have led to dozens of coronavirus infections in eastern Suffolk County and hundreds of people are under quarantine as a result. Full story.

The Riverhead Board of Education last night authorized the purchase of plastic barriers for student desks at Pulaski Street Elementary School at a cost of $36,000. Full story.

A teacher at Riverhead Middle School and a teacher at Riley Avenue Elementary School have contracted the disease, according to Interim Superintendent Christine Tona. Full story.

There will be no in-person instruction in Riverhead Central School District until at least Nov. 4 due to the quarantine of "many additional" transportation department employees, following confirmed cases in several employees last week. Full story.

Police said they broke up a party of about 300 people that took place on Middle Road Oct. 9 and charged the host with violating N.Y. State Public Health Law and COVID-19 emergency regulations. Full story.

“As of 4:30 p.m. on October 23, 2020, we feel that we can safely run our transportation department on Monday,” TInterim Superintendent Christine Tona wrote in a letter to the community. Full story.