Suffolk Coronavirus: 'Stay Tuned' For Beach, Summer Rental Info

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — The days may be getting warmer, but Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said with the number of deaths related to the new coronavirus continuing to rise, it's too soon for any decisions yet on summer rentals or beach openings on the East End or countywide.

As of Friday, there were 25,462 confirmed coronavirus cases countywide and 693 deaths.

Hospitalizations decreased by 23 to 1,562. The number of patients in ICU dropped by 16 to 521 and intubations are also down, Bellone said.

In the days ahead, he said, county officials will be looking to see if there is a continuation of plateauing or if there will continue to be a downward trend.

"We hope that the numbers will continue to go down," he said.

Hospital capacity is up 17 to 3,443, with 740 ICU beds. Of that number, there are 666 hospital beds and 120 ICU beds available.

A total of 122 COVID-19 patients were released from the hospital in the last 24 hours, he said.

As of Friday afternoon, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases by town is as follows:

• Islip: 6,806
• Brookhaven: 4,917
• Babylon: 3,997
• Huntington: 3,111
• Smithtown: 1,326
• Southampton: 371
• Riverhead:
• Southold: 256
• East Hampton: 113
• Shelter Island: 6

For a hamlet or community breakdown, click here.

Beaches and summer rentals? 'Stay tuned'

With summer coming and with Gov. Andrew Cuomo extending the stay-at-home order through May 15, Bellone spoke Friday about when beaches could possibly reopen; he was also asked about whether he thought they would open in six weeks — and about summer rentals.

"We'll see," he said. "That's six weeks away. We are five weeks into the thick of this crisis and anyone who says they know where we will be in six weeks hasn't paid attention to what is happening with this virus. It appears we are plateauing and hopefully we will see the trajectory going down. I don't know if that's the case. We'll see this week."

When asked if people planning for summer rentals should "do it or don't do it," Bellone said: "The message is, 'Stay tuned.'"

When asked by a reporter on a media call about the East End, which "gets crowded" during the summer months, and what kind of contingency plan might be developed to deal with the situation in the coming weeks, Bellone said it depends upon where the numbers stand.

The East End, he said, already has at present closer to "what looks like a summer environment, with the number of people out there at this time because of what's happening. People are out there early. It's had an impact on the food supply chain and on grocery stores. We need a little more time to see where we are with these things. We need hard data before we make any determinations."

Bellone was then asked if the East End might need more hospital beds because of the possible surge of visitors in coming weeks to the area. He said as long as people stay the course and continue with mitigation measures such as social distancing, the bed capacity should suffice.

"As we approach the May 15 date, if we do those things, I suspect we will continue to have positive news on the numbers," he said.

To stem the tide of people flocking to the East End, Southampton Town is currently cracking down on short-term rentals: Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman announced in recent weeks that ordinance enforcement division would put the brakes on short-term rentals during the month of April.

Scam attempts continue

Bellone said scammers tried to take advantage of a 95-year old grandmother from Lindenhurst who contacted police after she was told by the duo that her grandson had been in a crash and needed $8,000. Calling the pair that tried to perpetuate the crime "despicable," Bellone said the grandma "personifies the idea that you don’t mess with Lindenhurst. It's a strong community and an amazing community." Lindenhurt was hit hard by Super Storm Sandy and 9/11, but the "community responded in a spectacular way." The grandmother, he said, is an "inspiration to us in time of crisis."

Gowns on the way

The county has procured another 27,000 gowns, set to arrive Saturday, and another 500,000, expected next week. The "burn rate" on gowns, which Bellone has called "body armor" for first responders, remains high.

Thanking local businesses

Bellone thanked East/West Industries, a Ronkonkoma based defense manufacturing company that makes "lifesaving equipment" for the military, that has stepped up to make face covers with the help of the Suffolk Sewing Collaborative. The business put together kits that are delivered to members of the collaborative so they can do the work at home to create the masks.

Need for change

The county executive also spoke again of the Suffolk County Tax Act, something he called an "archaic law that's been around for more than 100 years, blocking our ability to provide short term relief for property taxpayers," he said.

When people pay their property taxes in December, that money doesn't get to the county until late June or early July; the county must therefore borrow funds to get through the first six months of the law.

That ends up costing county taxpayers millions of dollars, Bellone said, due to the short term borrowing the county does to meet operating expenses and keep the cash flow going until property tax revenues come in.

First responders take down brush fire

Bellone thanked the 26 departments that rushed to the scene of a brush fire in Manorville Thursday near the Brookhaven National Lab, not far from where a 2012 brush fire raged.

"Even in this global pandemic, these first responders and volunteers are responding every day when something like this happens," Bellone said. "All of us in Suffolk County can be comforted by the fact that they are there in the community and ready to respond. And when the call is out, they do respond in a professional way and without concern for their own safety and with incredible sacrifice."