COVID-19 on Long Island: Counties Differ on Achieving 7 Metrics to Reopen

LongIsland.com

Both counties reported a total of 83,138 positive cases.

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Still from Nassau Count press conference. Photo: Nassau County Executive Laura Curran Facebook page.

Numbers reported daily by Nassau and Suffolk counties show that there are a total of 83,138 positive cases on Long Island as of Thursday night.

 

Suffolk reported that there are 44,704 confirmed cases at this time and Nassau reported 38,434 total Covid-19 positives.

 

Suffolk County also reported that there are 575 patients hospitalized. Of those, 183 are in the intensive care unit.

 

“For the first time in a long time we are below 200,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone in a press conference on Thursday.

 

In Suffolk hospital capacity is at 69% and ICU capacity is around 67%.

 

In Nassau, there were 712 people hospitalized and of those 229 are in the ICU.

 

Suffolk County has administered 124,052 Covid-19 tests, with 30.3% of those tested were confirmed positive for COVID-19. In Suffolk, 57,936 antibody tests were issues with 7,160 showing positive for antibodies.

 

Nassau County did not report on the total number of tests administered.

 

“There continues to be more evidence that the rate of infection is declining,” said Nassau County County Executive Laura Curran during a press conference on Thursday.

 

She said that means we should be doing more.

 

“It’s time to expand testing.”

 

Nassau is planning to ramp up antibody tests

 

“We know there is a demand for antibody tests,” said Curran.

 

She wanted that while the presence of antibodies is a presumption that a person is immune for a period of time, that is not definite given that there are many variables and unknowns, including the possibility that the virus could mutate annually like the flu.

 

“It’s not necessarily a guarantee of immunity,” Curran said.

 

Those seeking to get tested for antibodies in Nassau County should make an appointment by calling (516) 396-7500.

 

Sadly, 3,688 people have died so far on Long Island from Covid-19. 1,697 deaths were in Suffolk County and 1,991 in Nassau County from Covid-19.

 

In the United States, there have been 1,436,690 confirmed cases and 85,846 have died due to Covid-19 to date.

 

Stats show that over 5,904 people have recovered from Covid-19 on Long Island so far.

 

According to New York State statistics, Long Island as a whole meets 4 of 7 metrics to reopening. During her press conference, Curran said Nassau County meets 5 out of 7.

 

Bellone pointed to a dashboard that Suffolk County has on its website showing its progress toward reopening. At the time this article was written that it had met 4 of the 7 metrics.

 

“We are watching those numbers very, very carefully,” Curran said.