Coronavirus: Bronxville Police Chief Says To Take Virus Seriously

BRONXVILLE, NY — The police chief for the Village of Bronxville has a message for the residents of his community: Get serious about the new coronavirus. In a couple of recorded voice messages sent to the village, Police Chief Christopher Satriale has repeatedly expressed concern that people are not taking seriously the guidelines about social distancing or the governor's request for people to stay at home unless absolutely necessary.

"My frustration has quickly turned to anger," Satriale said during a message sent Thursday.

He said there were a couple of disturbing occurrences that he brought to people's attention just two days after he appealed to residents to self-isolate and observe social distancing.

Satriale said the village recently was once again filled with people violating the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designed to slow the spread of the virus.

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He said there were basketball hoops being putting up at people's homes, bouncing castles set up on front lawns and a restaurant with tables outside for patrons. There were also couples walking in clear violation of social distancing rules.

"Clearly, the situation with COVID-19 is not being taken seriously by many of you," Satriale said.

He told the residents of Bronxville to ignore the numbers being released by the county that are being published by news organizations.

"I have confirmed numbers that more than double the figures" being announced daily by the county, Satriale said, adding that those numbers may be giving residents a false sense of security.

On Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo released numbers of total confirmed cases of the new coronavirus. For Westchester County, the state's number was 7,187.

Westchester County released its breakdown of the confirmed cases by municipality Friday and the total was 1,854. There was a similar discrepancy between Thursday's state and county numbers.

The county adds a disclaimer to its numbers that says the data lags the state's by as much as three days, because the state releases data to the county only after the tested individuals have been informed of their status.

According to the county's numbers released Friday, Bronxville has 16 confirmed cases, Tuckahoe has nine and the unincorporated portion of Eastchester has 55.

Patch requested a comment from the state health department as to why there is such a discrepancy between the state and county numbers for Westchester County. No response has yet been forthcoming.

Satriale said in his voice message that as of Thursday an 18-year-old Bronxville resident was "fighting for his life" on a ventilator and that emergency medical personnel and police officers are assisting in multiple transports every day to the hospital.

"This is a killer," he said. "This virus has taken lives from us already. Our friends and neighbors are suffering."

Satriale said residents should not leave their homes unless it's an essential trip.

"A walk through the village is not an essential trip," he said.

Coronavirus in New York and beyond

• LI Retirement Home: 13 Employees Test Positive For Coronavirus
• Coronavirus: Rockland Issues Isolation Order After 7 Deaths
• U.S. Coronavirus: Country Has The Most Confirmed Cases In World

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