Suffolk Coronavirus: 'Not Clear When' County Will Reopen

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — With portions of upstate New York poised to being Phase 1 of their reopening plans on Friday, County Executive Steve Bellone said, of Suffolk, "We are not there yet."

New York officials have released reopening guidelines that apply to essential and nonessential businesses, including mandatory measures and recommended best practices. The guidelines come ahead of a planned phase one business reopening early Friday for regions that have satisfied the state's seven metrics. As of Thursday, five regions had met the criteria: central New York, the Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country and Southern Tier.

The Mid-Hudson valley had satisfied five of the metrics as of Thursday, while Long Island dropped to four, matching New York City.

At his daily briefing on the coronavirus Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the guidelines "quite specific." They include restrictions and recommendations for construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, retail trade, manufacturing and wholesalers.

"Tomorrow begins a new phase in the state of New York as we transition from New York PAUSE to New York Forward," Bellone said. "We are doing work down here to be ready," when the time comes to reopen, he added.

In Suffolk County, planning work groups continue to meet and discuss reopening issues, he said. While the county is "not there yet" in regard to reopening and kicking off Phase 1, Bellone said officials are distributing the new guidance released by the state to local business owners in Suffolk County, as well as local Chambers of Commerce and other organizations.

"We are trying to get as much of a jumpstart as we can," Bellone said, adding that the goal is to develop plans in line with the newly released state guidance. "All of this is helpful in moving us forward," he said.

When the county has met its seven required metrics and is ready to reopen, Bellone said, "We want to be at the point where businesses, particularly those in the first phase, are ready to go."

Businesses that have any questions about the guidance issued should call 311, Bellone said.

Of a possible reopening date, Bellone said, "We are getting closer and closer to hitting the metrics every day. But it's not clear when."

Suffolk County unveiled a dashboard Monday to measure how well the area is doing toward meeting the metrics needed to reopen. So far, three metrics still need to be met, including the decline in hospital deaths, new hospitalizations, and number of contact tracers. New York State also has a dashboard.

On Friday, certain businesses including landscaping, gardening, and low-impact recreational options including tennis are set to open across New York State.

Key to reopening, Bellone said, is having the testing and aggressive contract training program ready. Also important, he said, is that people must continue to follow the guidance of health professionals, which has been critical in reducing the spread of the virus so hospitals were not overwhelmed.

Social distancing and the wearing of face masks will remain important, he said, so that regions can open safely and help to combat the Depression-era levels of unemployment the country is facing.

Closer to hitting a key metric

Suffolk County reached one of the key metrics that needs to be met, involving new hospitalizations — which needs to be under two per 100,000 residents – for the second day in a row, Bellone said. In order to reopen, the county must meet the metric on a three-day rolling average for 14 days. "Hopefully, that trend will continue," Bellone said.

With the state's numbers reflecting a lag, Bellone reported numbers from the 24 hour period ending on May 12. Although a slight uptick in hospitalizations was noted on Wednesday, with an increase of 10, on Thursday, Bellone said hospitalizations were down 10 again, for a total of 585.

A "significant decrease" was seen in the number of patients in ICU, with that number dropping by 31 to 183, he said. "For the first time in a long time, that number is below 200," Bellone said.

As of Thursday, the total number of positive cases of coronavirus in Suffolk County was 37,544, indicating an increase of 239, Bellone said.

The number of positive antibody tests stands at 7,160, he added.

A total of 39 patients have been discharged since the Wednesday update.

And total of 17 new deaths brings the total countywide to 1,697.

Suffolk County continues to meet the metrics in regard to hospital capacity, Bellone said. Currently, there are 2,969 hospital beds countywide, with 929 available, or 69 percent; of 574 ICU beds in Suffolk, 193 are available, for a capacity of 67 percent.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases by town is as follows:

Islip: 12,025

Brookhaven: 9,167

Babylon: 6,827

Huntington: 4,982

Smithtown: 2,400

Southampton: 934

Riverhead: 644

Southold: 400

East Hampton: 268

Shelter Island: 8

Supplies delivered

A total of 45,000 pieces of personal protective equipment were delivered Wednesday; since the pandemic began, the county has distributed more than 4.7 million pieces of PPE, Bellone said.

Hot spot testing continues

To date, 4,935 tests have been administered at the county's "hot spot" locations in underserved communities where language has often been a barrier and the goal is to spread information. Of that number, 4,686 have come back, with 1,663 positive, or 35.5 percent; the countywide average is 31 percent.

"The spread is still there, although it continues to narrow and has narrowed significantly from where we began," Bellone said.