Town of Islip Hit Hardest By Coronavirus Outbreak

TOWN OF ISLIP, NY — The Town of Islip is currently a hotspot for the coronavirus outbreak, containing the hamlet with the highest number of cases on Long Island. Currently, the township leads the county in the total number confirmed cases. In total, there are 18,803 cases across Suffolk as of Thursday. Islip has 4,618 cases followed by Brookhaven which has 3,125 cases.

Within the Islip Town, Brentwood is the hamlet with the most cases, with 1,481 residents who have the virus followed by Central Islip with 756 cases. Nassau County has more cases overall than Suffolk with a total of 20,140 positive cases as of Thursday. Hempstead currently has the most cases in Nassau with 766 confirmed cases.

Officials are looking for support for the areas that are hit the hardest. Local Senator Monica R. Martinez sent a letter to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone urging him to mobilize efforts to the communities mostly affected to help stop the spread of the virus.

"These communities are made up of residents who make up our essential workforce. They are our first responders, our healthcare professionals and our EMTs transporting patients," she said in statement. "They are the essential workers, working in grocery stores, pharmacies, cleaning companies, transit and much more. They have been on the front lines of this crisis from the beginning to help keep daily life functioning for all New Yorkers. It is important we step up and take care of them."

In an effort to help the community, a mobile testing site will be opening at the Recreation Center on 99 Third Avenue in Brentwood on Friday.

"I am grateful to the County Executive for heeding the call to deploy more resources to these two hard working communities. The residents of Brentwood, Central Islip, and the surrounding areas will now have access to the resources needed to flatten the curve," Martinez said. "We need to combat this virus by treating all communities equally and provide the necessary tools and information. I can only hope, by focusing on these harshly hit communities, we will be taking one more step toward stopping the spread of COVID-19."

A Newsday report found that the prominently Hispanic communities on Long Island, including six areas in Suffolk and five in Nassau, have been hit the hardest by the coronavirus. Half of the individual hamlets with the most amount of cases in Suffolk fall within the Town of Islip.

Here is the list of the communities with the highest number of cases as of Thursday:

Suffolk:

• Brentwood: 1,481
• Central Islip: 756
• Huntington Station: 657
• Wyandanch: 302
• North Bay Shore: 430
• North Amityville: 390

Nassau:

• Hempstead: 766
• Freeport: 418
• Uniondale: 400
• Glen Cove: 336
• New Cassel: 218

Suffolk County Legislator Sam Gonzalez, whose district includes Central Islip and the eastern portion of Brentwood, has been working to spread prevention messages in Spanish across the town and has been asking the whole community to abide by the rules.