Skip to main content

Covid Numbers Declining at Town Test Sites But Not Across Island

Wed, 11/10/2021 - 18:24
East Hampton Town has completed a transition from Medivolve, which had operated Covid-19 test sites at Town Hall and in Montauk, to CareONE Concierge, which is offering saliva-based PCR tests at the former Child Development Center of the Hamptons on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Durell Godfrey

The rate of Covid-19 infection has slowly declined at testing sites in East Hampton Town in recent weeks, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said on Tuesday.

The positive infection rate among those tested between Oct. 16 and Oct. 23 was 5.88 percent, Mr. Van Scoyoc said. The rate between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30 was 4.94 percent, and between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7 it was 3.85 percent.

Councilwoman Sylvia Overby said on Tuesday that there are four Covid-19 patients at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, down from seven, and 38 at Stony Brook University Hospital, seven of whom are on a ventilator. Stony Brook University Hospital has not seen a decrease in Covid-19 patients in recent weeks, Ms. Overby reported.

Long Island’s positive infection rate is once again on a slow but steady increase. The seven-day average percentage of positive test results stood at 2.5 percent on Monday, up from 2.08 percent on Oct. 28. East Hampton Town had logged 2,177 total cases of Covid-19 as of Tuesday, according to Suffolk County’s Information Technology Department.

The town has completed a transition from Medivolve, which operated test sites at the Town Hall complex in East Hampton and in Montauk, to CareONE Concierge, which is operating a test site at the former Child Development Center of the Hamptons, Mr. Van Scoyoc said. It is now offering tests on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with no appointment needed. The supervisor said on Tuesday that he hoped to announce “a more robust schedule of testing” shortly, ideally six days a week at the former C.D.C.H. building and one day a week in Montauk.

Mr. Van Scoyoc said that if the local infection rate continues to decline, “we will want to have a discussion about reopening board meetings” to in-person attendance. A resumption of in-person meetings on July 1 proved short-lived, with meetings returning to a virtual format two months later after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation extending virtual access to public meetings under New York State’s Open Meetings Law. The highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, and a sizable minority of the population unwilling or unable to be vaccinated, had led to another surge in Suffolk County, across New York State, and around the United States.

Villages

Rector of St. Luke's Takes Key Role in Coast Guard Chaplain Program

The Rev. Benjamin (Chaps) Shambaugh, who serves in the Coast Guard’s Auxiliary Chaplain Support program, became the branch chief of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area East on Jan. 1. In that role, he will oversee chaplains who care for Coast Guard members and their families from Canada to the Caribbean and in Europe and other areas abroad. 

Jan 10, 2025

Deep History in Sag Harbor Headstones’ Restoration

While Captain Beebee’s headstone now sits pristine atop the hill next to the Old Whalers Church, the rest of the family’s six plots sit in disrepair. Recently, however, the museum received a $10,000 grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, which will allow for the restoration of the remaining headstones.

Jan 9, 2025

Traffic-Calming Ideas for Wainscott

Looking ahead to the problem of summer traffic, David and Stacey Brodsky of Wainscott have a plan that they believe will alleviate the burden created by cars using some of the hamlet’s back roads to bypass Montauk Highway.

Jan 9, 2025

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.