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COVID-19 updates.
Businesses and households that have lost substantial amounts of income because of the coronavirus health crisis will get an additional 45 days to pay their county, town and village tax bills due on May 31.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, along with officials from a number of towns, villages and school districts around the county, announced on Wednesday afternoon that those who can demonstrate an economic hardship will have until July 15 to pay their taxes without accruing penalties or interest.
The deferment will be available only to those homeowners who can attest to having lost 25 percent of their income over the last two months, or small businesses with $1 million or less in annual net revenues per year that have seen a decrease in revenues of at least 50 percent because of the crisis.
Taxpayers will not have to provide any documented proof to qualify for the deferments, but will have to attest on a county form that their lost income claim is accurate. Mr. Bellone said the forms will be available through the county’s website or by calling the county 311 information line early next week.
“Many people are finding it hard to pay the bills,” Mr. Schneiderman said on a Zoom teleconference with Mr. Bellone and other officials Wednesday. “Allowing them an additional 45 days, I think, goes a long way.”
Mr. Bellone and Mr. Schneiderman both said that working through the financial logistics of granting the deferment was not as simple as municipalities simply moving the due dates for tax bills, because municipalities themselves have bills coming due and sparse financial coffers. A municipal support portion of the CARES Act helped smooth the way for the deferrements, thanks to the assistance of Senator Chuck Schumer and U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin, Mr. Bellone said.
Just 84 more positive cases of coronavirus infections were reported since Tuesday, Mr. Bellone said, bringing the county total to 38,411.
Religious gatherings of no more than 10 people — wearing masks and with strict social distancing measures in place — will be permitted statewide beginning Thursday. Drive-in services will be allowed as well.
Governor Andrew Cuomo made the announcement during his daily COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday. He added that the state is also convening its Interfaith Advisory Council to discuss proposals to safely bring back religious services.
The state has worked with faith-based groups to increase testing for COVID-19 infection and antibodies in low-income communities in New York City. The state’s testing program with Northwell Health is doubling as of Wednesday, bringing participation up to 44 churches in impacted communities. Mr. Cuomo also said he is directing all local governments statewide to test in low-income communities and develop outreach programs.
Mr. Cuomo on Wednesday defended his decisions in the early days of the pandemic concerning nursing homes. U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican from Schuylerville in Saratoga County, has called for a federal probe of Mr. Cuomo’s policy enacted in March that nursing homes must accept patients who previously tested positive for COVID-19.
Mr. Cuomo said he was acting in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention directive that nursing homes cannot discriminate against COVID patients. He noted that hospitals were trying to increase their bed capacity in March.
He said that patients who no longer need an urgent care bed should not have been kept in hospitals for two weeks while they waited until they tested negative for COVID.
Mr. Cuomo said it has always been the case that nursing home operators can deny accepting patients that they are not equipped to care for, and that the state has always had alternative beds for those patients. If a nursing home did not have the staff, the personal protective equipment and the ability to quarantine a patient, it would not have taken the patient, Mr. Cuomo said.
Also during Wednesday’s briefing, the governor’s daughter Mariah Kennedy Cuomo revealed the five finalists out of 600 submissions to the state’s “wear a mask” video contest. New Yorkers may vote on their favorite at coronavirus.health.ny.gov/wear-mask and the winner will be broadcast as a public service announcement.
Hospitalizations, intubations and new cases are all down again in the state. The number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 statewide Tuesday was 112, with 82 occurring in hospitals and 30 in nursing homes. That is seven more than Monday’s one-day death toll, but 27 lower than Saturday’s toll. The overall trend continues downward.
Long Island continues to track toward reopening. According to the state’s regional monitoring dashboard, as of Monday, Long Island has six consecutive days of decline in COVID-19 deaths at hospitals. A 14-day decline is required. Based on a three-day average, 13 people are dying due to COVID-19 at hospitals on Long Island daily. The goal is fewer than five.
Long Island has 1.67 new hospitalizations daily per 100,000 residents, well under the requirement of no more than 2 per 100,000.
Long Island has more ICU beds available, with 37 percent of ICU beds now free. The requirement to reopen is at least 30 percent.
With beaches across the East End and select beaches in Suffolk County set to open for Memorial Day weekend, County Executive Steve Bellone offered, “We’re trying to make things as normal as we can.”
Officials from varied municipalities across the county have worked together to come up with plans for beach openings that are safe. If a plan for beach reopenings can be conceived, surely plans for decorating the graves of veterans for Memorial Day can, too, he reasoned.
He’s been calling on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to lift its blanket ban prohibiting the decorating of graves in national cemeteries this weekend, so far to no avail. There are two national cemeteries in Suffolk County — Calverton National Cemetery and Long Island National Cemetery in Wyandanch. Calverton is among the 10 largest national cemeteries in the country.
The VA’s prohibition ought to recognize that some cemeteries and localities can come up with a plan to decorate the graves while maintaining social distancing protocols, the county executive opined during his daily media update Tuesday. Suffolk volunteers and officials have created a safety plan for the flag placement that was approved by county health department Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott.
Calverton National Cemetery is almost 1,100 acres and “we could be 50 feet apart,” said Frank Bailey, who’s been coordinating volunteers for the annual Memorial Day tribute at Calverton that started in 1995. Mr. Bellone agreed.
Displaying the county’s certified plan, he said that, given its acreage, Calverton National Cemetery is “probably one of the easiest places in the world where we can socially distance.”
Over 200,000 veterans are interred at Calverton and, said Mr. Bailey, “Everybody in that cemetery is a hero.”
Last year, some 5,000 volunteers placed flags on 220,000 graves “in about 45 minutes,” Mr. Bailey said. The volunteers come from Scouting troops, as well as civic organizations, veterans groups, and businesses.
“It’s our job to once a year, go and say, ‘Thank you for preserving our freedom,’” Mr. Bailey said.
Lacking a greenlight from the VA , Mr. Bellone crafted a partnership with more than a dozen non-federal cemeteries across the county that will allow flag placement to occur on Saturday, May 23. On the South Fork, Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary cemetery in Southampton and Shaarey Pardes Accabonac Grove Cemetery in East Hampton will participate.
The county executive called on community members to help with the effort by donating flags in good condition, measuring 8 by12 inches or 12 by 18 inches. They need about 7,000 of them brought to the H. Lee Dennison building in Hauppague by 5 p.m. on Thursday. Those reluctant to travel but eager to donate may call 311 and pickup could be arranged.
New York State will permit Memorial Day ceremonies with 10 people or fewer participating, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.
Mr. Cuomo said it is important to honor veterans, and ceremonies should be broadcast. He also said vehicle parades to honor veterans should be encouraged.
The governor said Long Island is making great progress on COVID-19. He noted that just weeks ago an average of 100 Long Island residents were dying daily due to COVID-19, and today the average is 13.
He announced that Nassau County hospitals may now resume elective surgeries and ambulatory care. Suffolk County hospitals were eligible starting this past Saturday.
New York is starting a hospitalization visitation pilot program in 16 hospitals across the state to allow increased visitation by family members of patients. The two-week program will allow time-limited visits with personal protective equipment worn. Visitors will also be subject to symptom and temperature checks. In Suffolk County, only Northwell-Huntington Hospital is participating.
According to the state’s regional monitoring dashboard, as of Sunday, Long Island has met five of the seven metrics required to reopen. One of the outstanding metrics is recruiting 30 contract tracers per 100,000 residents. Tracers — who may be new hires or existing municipal employees — will interview people who have tested positive with COVID-19 to determine where they have been and who they have come into contact with, so others will know if they may have been exposed to the virus. The state says Long Island is “expected” to meet the required number of tracers.
What is holding back Long Island’s reopening now is meeting a 14-day decline in hospital deaths due to COVID-19. Long Island had just five days of decline as of Sunday. Alternatively, a region can meet the requirement if it has fewer than five hospitals deaths per day, based on a three-day rolling average. Long Island had 12 hospital deaths per day on average as of Sunday.
Long Island meets or exceeds all other requirements.
Western New York began reopening Tuesday, and the Capital Region may begin reopening Wednesday.
New COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide, based on a three-day rolling average, were down Monday to 335, a new low.
The one-day death toll Monday was 105 statewide, with 85 occurring in hospitals and 20 in nursing homes. That is one fewer than Sunday, making Monday’s toll a new low.
The number of confirmed cases of an inflammatory disease possibly linked to COVID-19 and found among youth is now up to 137. The illness presents like Kawasaki disease or toxic shock syndrome and causes inflammation of blood vessels.
Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren, Hampton Bays Schools Superintendent Lars Clemensen and Southampton Town Councilperson Rick Martell have teamed up to host a free mask drive through at Hampton Bays High School located at 86 Argonne Road E from 2:00 to 3:30 pm on Wednesday, May 20.
The mask drive is open to all Hampton Bays and Southampton Town residents and to anyone in need of 3-ply surgical masks. Cars will be asked to drive through, keep their windows up, and volunteers will place a sealed bag of five masks under the windshield wiper and cars can then drive away seamlessly.
“As the summer season begins and the ‘new normal’ will be the slogan for 2020, I am happy to help Superintendent Clemensen and Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren distribute free face masks at HBHS. We need to do all we can to pass the finish line to ending this pandemic,” said Southampton Town Councilperson Rick Martell in a release announcing the initiative.
Mr. Clemensen echoed the sentiment. “We are looking forward to getting resources into the residents of Hampton Bays and continuing to help in anyway we can,” he said.
Mayor Warren thanked Superintendent Clemensen, and Councilperson Martell, Traffic Control Officers and volunteers for their help. “We are one community, and it’s a pleasure to help in anyway to ensure that the entire east end has PPE so we continue to take steps to flatten the curve even further.”
Citing concern about an influx of visitors to East Hampton the town board, on May 14, wrote Governor Andrew Cuomo asking him to consider the health risk and delay hotel openings. The summertime influx has the potential to cause renewed COVID-19 outbreaks, the letter from the East Hampton Town Board states. It could reverse progress that has been made “through weeks of staying home, quarantining, and following precautions in public.”
Speaking of reopenings, the governor has made reference to “attractive nuisances,” places that, if opened, could draw crowds from outside local areas. He initially placed hotels and motels into the third phase of a cautious regional reopening, one that would occur only if there is no evidence of a coronavirus resurgence. However, hotels and other places of accommodation were listed as essential businesses permitted to operate throughout the pandemic.
Also sent to New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, the letter asks state officials to prohibit the reopening of resort and tourist accommodations until the third phase of the reopening. Log Island has yet to meet the standards for Phase One of reopening.
“We are still not at a point where nonessential travel should take place,” the letter states. It lists the strain on local resources and challenges posed by the popularity of the town, and Montauk in particular, which is traditionally crowded with tourists during the summer season. Since the weather warmed, locals have reported throngs of out of town visitors descending on Montauk.
“During this pandemic, the challenge is even more acute and the stakes are even higher,” the board wrote. “As town leaders, we are hearing please from our residents to take action to protect them. We are planning, as best we can, for the implementation of additional COVID-19 safety and control measures. But we fear adding hotel and motel visitors to the mix will simply overwhelm our town, creating an untenable, and avoidable, surge in the ongoing public health crisis.”
Only Suffolk County residents will be permitted on Cupsogue and Smith Point county beaches this weekend. Attendants in the kiosks at the parking lot entrances will check identification to verify residency. The beach will be open to 50 percent its usual capacity.
The county is hitting six out of seven required metrics to reopen the economy, County Executive Steve Bellone reported during his daily media update. As a region, Long Island has not met the standard for a 14-day decline in hospital deaths. Six people died from the coronavirus in the pas 24 hours, he said. Mr. Bellone noted that the number of deaths was “the lowest number we’ve see in a long, long time.” In all 1,754 people have died from COVID-19 countywide.
A dashboard created by the state to depict metrics progress shows a star for Long Island in the box for contact tracing. It lists the metric as “expected,” and the county executive said he was confident the region would get its program online soon.
Contact tracers must follow the interactions of people who test positive for coronavirus, so people the patient has been in contact with can self-quarantine in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus. All the efforts necessary to put the contact tracing program in place are happening, he said.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is encouraging New York’s major sports franchises to prepare to reopen without fans present in stadiums.
Mr. Cuomo said Monday during his daily COVID-19 briefing that the state will work with sports teams to enable them to play and televise games. “New York State will help those major sports franchises to do just that,” he said. “Hockey, basketball, baseball, football — whoever can reopen — we’re a ready, willing and able partner.”
He said it is in the best interest of the people and the State of New York, and he personally wants to watch the Buffalo Bills play.
Mr. Cuomo said that the results of the COVID-19 test that he took Sunday in front of the cameras during his daily briefing came back negative for the virus.
The governor also announced that Western New York will begin a phased reopening Tuesday after county executives identified an adequate number of municipal employees to work as contract tracers.
Long Island is expected to meet the required number of contact tracers to begin reopening — 30 tracers per 100,000 residents — but as of Saturday, the region only experienced a four-day decline in hospital deaths. The requirement is 14 consecutive days of decline based on a three-day rolling average.
Long Island met the metric for new hospitalizations: The region has 1.97 new hospitalizations daily per 100,000 residents, just under the requirement of 2 per 100,000.
Long Island has 32 percent of hospital beds free and 34 percent of ICU beds free. The requirement is at least 30 percent free.
The daily COVID-19 death toll hit a new low Sunday in New York. There were 106 deaths attributed to COVID-19 statewide, with 83 occurring in hospitals and 23 in nursing homes. The previous low achieved since the downward trend in daily deaths began was 132 on Thursday.
Total hospitalizations, new hospitalizations and intubations all went down as well.
Memorial Day Weekend is on the horizon, and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone noted that Smith Point and Cupsogue beaches will open next Saturday, May 23. He said that parking lots will be monitored by police and shut down once capacity is reached. People are being asked to maintain social distancing while sitting on the beach. They do not need to wear facial coverings while seated with their family group, but must wear masks when walking to and from the lot and while using beach facilities.
“Memorial Day weekend is about honoring the men and women who have served and sacrificed for our country, so it’s important to talk about that and instill that in our kids,” said Mr. Bellone who is hoping the Veterans Administration will grant permission for volunteers to place American flags on the graves of fallen heroes in Suffolk County’s two national cemeteries for Memorial Day .
In terms of the county numbers in the previous 24 hours, there were 175 new positive cases of COVID-19 reported, bringing the total to 38,117 in Suffolk County.
The number of people who tested positive for antibodies, but did not previously get tested for COVID-19, is 9,092.
New hospitalizations are down by 26 patients, to a total of 513. The number of ICU patients increased by 10, to 186.
Suffolk County now has 901 hospital events available, which is 70% of total beds.
In terms of ICU beds, 190, or 67% are available. A total of 42 people were discharged from the hospital in the past 24 hours, while 15 more individuals died, bringing the total number of COVID-19 dead in Suffolk County to 1,748.
National EMS Week is May 17 to 23, and Mr. Bellone noted that the H. Lee Dennison building in Hauppauge will be lit with blue lights to honor the emergency medical workers, for whom he expressed his appreciation.
“A big thank you to all members of our EMS community for the incredible work you have done throughout the COVID-19 crisis,” said Mr. Bellone. “You’re saving people’s lives each and every day.”
CVS will offer COVID-19 diagnostic testing at more than 60 pharmacies under a new agreement with New York State, Governor Cuomo announced Sunday.
Each participating pharmacy will be able to conduct more than 50 tests daily.
During his daily briefing, Mr. Cuomo also announced that the state has met a goal set April 21 to double testing capacity, bringing New York up to 40,000 tests per day.
Many drive-thru and walk-in testing sites are not seeing as many people as they have the capacity for, the governor said. Though they have the capacity for 15,000 per day, they are only seeing 5,000 people daily.
Mr. Cuomo encouraged more people to get tested, and even got tested during his briefing Sunday in front of the press and cameras. A doctor wearing PPE quickly put a swab up his nostril. Mr. Cuomo said it was painless.
Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms may get a test, he said. That includes coughing, sneezing, fever, chest pain, loss of sense of smell and taste, etc.
People are also eligible if they had contact with someone else who tested positive. Health care and nursing home employees and any essential employee may get tested, as well as anyone going back to work as their region begins phase one of reopening.
Industries and businesses that may reopen in phase one include residential and commercial construction, retail — for curbside pickup and in-store pickup ordered ahead only — manufacturing and wholesalers.
Two more regions around the state — the Capital Region and Western New York — have met the requirements to reopen when it comes to infections, hospitalization, fatalities and hospital capacity, but they still need more COVID-19 contact tracers, the governor announced. He said that is an administrative function that the state will work with the regions on to make reopening possible.
Long Island still has too many new hospitalizations daily to reopen and needs a 14-day decline in COVID-19 deaths. As of Friday, Long Island only had three consecutive days of decline.
The total number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 was down on Saturday, and the number of new COVID-related hospital admissions was down to 374, the first day since the decline began that the number has fallen below 400, based on a three-day rolling average.
The number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in New York State Saturday was 139, with 106 occurring in hospitals and 33 in nursing homes. That is 18 fewer than Friday’s one-day death toll, and seven more than the low point reached on Thursday.
Mr. Cuomo noted that the number of American reporting serious mental distress is up greatly during the pandemic. He encouraged New Yorkers to visit howareyoureally.org, by the Mental Health Coalition, to share their feelings. New Yorkers may also call 1-844-863-9314, the emotional support hotline, for free counseling via phone or video chat, he added. Headspace is offering free mental health resources at headspace.com/ny.
During his press conference on Saturday, May 16, County Executive Steve Bellone noted it was Armed Forces Day. To that end, he said the county will be asking Robert Wilkie, Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), to allow local cemeteries to make the determination about placing American flags on the graves of fallen soldiers and veterans in honor of Memorial Day, which is Monday, May 25.
Mr. Bellone said that the VA had previously announced that because of COVID-19, the traditional placement of flags would not occur this year at its two county cemeteries — Long Island National Cemetery and Calverton National Cemetery.
“I cannot understand why the VA is not allowing the local communities to do flag placement where the local health department is certifying there is a safety plan that meets all safety guidelines,” said Mr. Bellone. “We’re talking about moving forward our economy in a safe way, so how can we can say that as a community — as a country — we can’t figure out a way to safely put American flags at the graves of service members who have died for our country?
“To me, that is an unacceptable answer,” he added. “Of course we can figure this out. We have a plan to do this safely.”
If the VA continues to say flag placement is not allowed at national cemeteries, Mr. Bellone will request that those flags be given to the county for placement at 15 other non-VA cemeteries across Suffolk County.
“To me, this is not that hard. We can do this,” he said.
In terms of the county numbers in the previous 24 hours, there were 223 new positive cases of COVID-19 reported, bringing the total to 37,942 in Suffolk County.
“That doesn’t include the 8,878 who tested positive for antibodies, but did not previously have a diagnostic test,” said Mr. Bellone.
New hospitalizations were down by 15 patients, to a total of 539. The number of ICU patients was 186, an increase of one.
Suffolk County now has a total of 2,946 hospital beds, 890 of which are available.
“That puts us at the 70% we need for hitting that metric,” said Mr. Bellone. “Of 574 ICU beds, 183 are available, which puts us at 68%, and 40 people were discharged from the hospital, which is a good number.”
There were 24 new deaths reported on Saturday, bringing the county total to 1,733.
In terms of testing, Mr. Bellone reported that a total of 5,370 COVID-19 tests were performed at hot spot testing sites across the county, with 5,178 results returned, of which 1,770 yielded positive results. That makes for a 34% infection rate at hot spot testing sites, which is above the countywide 29.2% rate of positive tests.
Mr. Bellone was asked to comment about an incident earlier in the week during which Kevin Vesey, a reporter for News 12 Long Island, was confronted by protesters while covering a demonstration organized by Setauket Patriots in in Commack. Though he had not seen the video in question, which was retweeted by President Trump who wrote “Fake News Is Not Essential!”
Mr. Bellone said that the Suffolk County Police will be prepared to protect anyone who is in any way threatened at a protest or rally.
“Particularly journalists fulfilling the critical function in our society of reporting the news and protecting the First Amendment,” he said.
Hospitals in Suffolk and Westchester counties are now eligible to resume elective surgeries and ambulatory care, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced during his daily briefing Saturday.
“We want to make sure people who need medical services are getting medical services,” Mr. Cuomo said. “There was a period where hospitals were dealing basically with the COVID patients. We are past that period. If you need medical attention, if you need a medical procedure, you should get it, right? And hospitals are safe places to go. To the extent people are worried about going to a hospital, there’s no reason.”
According to the state’s Regional Monitoring Dashboard, as of Friday, Long Island continues to have too many new COVID-19 hospitalizations per day to reopen. The requirement is no more than 2 new hospitalizations daily per 100,000 residents, based on a three-day rolling average. Long Island is at 2.61 new hospitalizations daily. There must also be a 14-day decline in hospitalizations. Long Island is at only three consecutive days of decline.
Suffolk County has had 37,719 positive COVID-19 tests, which is 29.7 percent of all tests conducted in the county. According to the state dashboard, 1,709 Suffolk County residents have died due to COVID-19.
The total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state is down as is the number of patients intubated. The number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations Friday, based on a three-day rolling average, was 400, which is a new low since the decline began.
The number of deaths in New York State Friday attributed to COVID-19 was 157, with 105 occurring in hospitals and 52 in nursing homes. That is 25 more than Thursday’s one-day death toll, and the same number as Wednesday. Overall, the trend is downward.
“New York on PAUSE” remains in effect until May 28 in regions that have not met the metrics to begin a phased reopening.
Smith Point County Park and Cupsogue Beach County Park beaches will open on Memorial Day, County Executive Steve Bellone announced on Facebook Friday. Shinnecock East and Montauk County Park will not open with lifeguards until later in the season, he acknowledged during his daily media update.
“We have put together a comprehensive safety plan to ensure the safety of all residents,” he said. Visitors will be required to wear a face covering on boardwalks, stairways, restrooms, and other public areas, but not on the beach or in the water.
Beachgoers will also have to maintain social distancing of 6 feet from people who are not part of their households. Playgrounds, basketball and handball courts would remain closed for the season. Bay beaches will also remain closed for now.
“We are also increasing the number of lifeguards on duty as well as bathroom attendants at each beach who will routinely sanitize the premises,” he said. Hand sanitizers will be available and staff will take temperature of beach goers to make sure that they are safe as well. And people who have been exposed to COVID-19 or who are showing symptoms will be prohibited from entering the beach.
The county working group comprised of county officials, as well as select town and village officials submitted a plan to the state Thursday. During his daily media briefing, Mr. Bellone said those in the group acknowledged how facilities are unique across the region. There wouldn’t be a “one size fits all “ plan, he made clear, with municipalities deciding to come up with their own timelines depending upon staffing.
“We have to get this right,” he said. “If the numbers start to spike, you have to put restrictions back in place. We had to develop a plan designed to maximize safety.” Finding a balance between giving people a real summer while protecting public health is the goal, he said.
He noted the county doesn’t generally open its beaches until the end of June, but with children out of school, he said it was ‘unrealistic” to keep them from the beach on warm sunny days.
To determine beach capacity, lifeguards and health department officials took into account the size of the beach, its parking availability, and sanitary facilities. Individual municipalities must submit a plan to the state in order to open.
New York is joining New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware in the coordinated reopening of state beaches on Friday, May 22, the kickoff of Memorial Day weekend. Village, town and county beaches in each of the states will have state permission to open, but the decision whether to open or not will be left up to local officials.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday during his daily COVID-19 briefing that the four states plan to reopen their beaches on the same day so people will not flock to a handful of open beaches and create density.
There will be restrictions in place on all beaches — not just state beaches. Any open beach can only welcome up to 50 percent of its visitor capacity. This will be ensured by controlling exits and entrances and limiting parking, Mr. Cuomo said. Group contact activities such as volleyball and football are prohibited. Social gathering areas such as picnic ares, playgrounds, pavilions, arcades and amusement rides must remain closed. Social distancing measures must be enforced for employees and visitors, and masks must be worn when distancing is not possible. Concession stands must remain closed. Staff levels must be adequate to enforce the measures and to enforce crowd control.
Local governments that choose to open their beaches must enforce the state rules at a minimum; they may be stricter if they wish. Local governments that do not enforce the minimum rules will be forced to close beaches, the governor said.
Local governments must publicly announce their intent to open beaches or not by Wednesday, May 20.
In an executive order signed Thursday night, Governor Andrew Cuomo extended his New York PAUSE directive until 11:59 p.m. on May 28, unless later amended by changing circumstances.
Issued on March 7, the order “closed or otherwise restricted public or private businesses or places of public accommodation, and which required postponement or cancellation of all nonessential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason (e.g. parties, celebrations, games, meetings or other social events).”
The order includes a provision permitting some regions of the state to commence Phase One reopening of “construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, retail (limited to curbside or in-store pickup or drop off), manufacturing and wholesale trade.” However, Long Island is not included in the regions permitted to begin Phase One.
“Only those businesses or entities in a region that meets the prescribed public health and safety metrics, as determined by the Department of Health, will be eligible for reopening,” the order states. As of Friday morning, Suffolk County has met just four of seven required metrics. The Long Island region is still listed as meeting just four of the seven metrics.
Countywide, there are 41,920 confirmed cases of coronavirus reflected on the county’s interactive map. In Southampton Town, there were 939 cases, with 269 cases in the Town of East Hampton.
As of Thursday, May 14, 124,052 COVID-19 tests had been administered countywide, and 30.3 percent of those tested were confirmed positive for coronavirus. There were 57,936 antibody tests administered, and 37,544 tested positive. Of those, 7,160 individuals not previously tested for COVID-19 have tested positive for antibodies, meaning they had the illness and were never diagnosed. The number of people who died from the illness reached 1,607 by Thursday afternoon.
Thursday is the 75th day since New York State had its first confirmed case of COVID-19, and it’s the eve of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “New York on PAUSE” executive order expiring. However, Long Island is not among the regions around the state that have met the criteria to start a phased reopening of their economies.
Regions must have a 14-day decline in hospital deaths to begin phase one of reopening. Long Island had reached a three-day decline as of Tuesday, but according to the state’s regional monitoring dashboard, the streak was broken on Wednesday. That means reopening is at least two weeks out for Long Island.
Long Island has 2.88 new COVID hospitalizations daily per 100,000 residents based on a three-day rolling average as of Wednesday, up from 2.66 on Tuesday. To reopen, a region must have fewer than 2 new hospitalizations daily per 100,000 population.
Regions must have at least 30 percent of their total number of hospital beds free and at least 30 percent of their ICU beds free. Long Island is on the borderline, with 30 percent of all beds free and 33 percent of ICU beds free.
New York City, Mid-Hudson, the Capital District and Western New York, like Long Island, will not be ready to start reopening Friday. The regional monitoring dashboard can be viewed at forward.ny.gov/regional-monitoring-dashboard.
Governor Andrew Cuomo, delivering his daily COVID-19 briefing from Upstate Medical University in Syracuse on Thursday afternoon, said New York State is now investigating 110 cases of a COVID-related illness in children that presents like toxic-shock syndrome or Kawasaki disease. Now, 16 other states and six European countries are investigating cases.
“I expect this is only going to grow,” Mr. Cuomo said.
Mr. Cuomo said if children have a prolonged fever, parents should seek medical attention. The illness tends to happen in children who previously tested positive for COVID-19 or who have antibodies for the coronavirus, he noted.
“This virus has been ahead of us every step of the way,” Mr. Cuomo said. “I can’t tell you how many, quote unquote, facts I was told that then changed.”
It had previously been good news that COVID-19 does not effect children, but now that does not appear to be the case, he said.
“Do not underestimate this virus,” he added. “It has beat us at every turn and it has surprised us at every turn. Don’t take it lightly, don’t underestimate it.”
There were 157 deaths attributed to COVID-19 statewide on Wednesday — 121 in hospitals and 36 in nursing homes. That is the lowest one-day death toll since the peak of the pandemic in New York State, and the fourth day in a row that the number has been under 200.
The number of new COVID cases at hospitals has remained about flat for three days, and the number of intubated patients is down.
Mr. Cuomo endorsed the U.S. House Democrats’ $3 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or the HEROES Act.
The bill includes $500 billion in state and local aid and repeals the cap on the state and local income tax deduction, known at SALT. Mr. Cuomo said that the SALT deduction cap, which was enacted in the 2017 federal tax law, is costing New York taxpayers $12 billion to $15 billion annually.
U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin said in a statement Thursday that he will vote against the House bill.
“This massive $3 trillion dollar, 1,800+ page bill is a one-House messaging bill that was crafted without bipartisanship, debate, vetting, discussion or compromise. This is not how to legislate. The only legislation that will provide Long Islanders coronavirus relief is legislation that can get over the finish line,” said Mr. Zeldin, a Republican whose district includes the East End and much of the rest of Suffolk County as well.
Mr. Zeldin said he favors removing the SALT deduction cap but objects to other measures in the bill that he says are not related to the coronavirus.
“[House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi’s proposal includes, a massive prison release, the ability for people illegally in our country to receive stimulus checks, an unemployment insurance provision that would keep too many people out of the workforce for almost another year and thwart our economic recovery, and drastic election changes that will open the door for voter fraud by legalizing ballot harvesting throughout America, banning voter ID nationally, and far more.”
Mr. Cuomo Thursday also called on people interested in growing or starting medical supply businesses to contact Empire State Development at esd.ny.gov. The governor said medical supplies should be made in New York so governors do not have to source supplies from China in the next crisis.
Staff Writer on May 14, 2020