COVID-19

Riverhead Central School District has been sued by two parents for requiring students to wear masks in schools after a Nassau judge last January ruled the State Health Department’s mask mandate “null, void and unenforceable as a matter of law.” The ruling never took effect due to an appellate court stay pending the state's appeal and was later made moot when the state lifted the mandate after the winter COVID surge subsided.

New lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Suffolk — and statewide — continue to decline. The 7-day average of daily new cases in Suffolk fell from 5,661 on Jan. 7 to 5,217 on Jan. 11, a 7.9% drop. Suffolk’s one-day record for the number of new lab-confirmed cases since the pandemic began hit 6,992 on Jan. 7. Yesterday, Suffolk reported 3,942 positive cases on Jan. 11.

Free flu shots will be administered by Peconic Bay Medical Center at the North Fork Spanish Apostolate on Thursday, Nov. 18 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on a first come, first served basis.

School board member Chris Dorr asked board members to write a letter of support for two Nassau County school districts suing to overturn the state's mask mandate in schools. Former schol board candidate Monique Parsons, on behalf of a new group called Save Our Schools-Riverhead, demanded the district become a plaintiff in the suit.

The U.S. Justice Department has decided not to open a civil rights investigation into how government-run nursing homes in New York State responded to the COVID-19 crisis last year. The decision drew fire from Rep. Lee Zeldin, who called it a "gift" to Gov. Andrew Cuomo by the Biden Administration.

The town supervisor must stop hiding behind COVID and open up Town Hall on May 19. Guest column by Kathleen McGraw of Northville