In the past 24 hours, there have been another 52 deaths from Covid-19 in Suffolk County, bringing the total to 414. The number of confirmed cases surged to 20,320, up by 1,517, County Executive Steve Bellone said in his daily press briefing on Friday.
(Editor's note: due to a double counting of some lab results, Friday's total number of confirmed cases was overstated during the press briefing and was corrected to 19,246 at Saturday's briefing. The total count of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the county as of Saturday is 20,321 with an additional 44 deaths from the illness.)
"We're at the center of the battle," said Mr. Bellone, who noted that Suffolk and Nassau Counties combined have more confirmed cases than any other counties in the state outside of the New York City area.
The number of people hospitalized rose to 1,642, up 47 from Thursday, according to the county, but the number of people in intensive care units decreased by 8 to 523, and 132 patients had been discharged from the hospital. (In Saturday's briefing, Mr. Bellone noted that the weekly average for new hospitalizations per day was down to 35 for this week, compared with 144 per day last week.)
Mr. Bellone said the county has currently identified three sites for targeted testing -- Riverhead, Brentwood, and Huntington Station.
Members of the immigrant communities in those areas have not been as aware of the protocols required to limit transmission of the virus, he said, due to a language barrier.
To address that issue, the county will now be sending text message alerts and updates in Spanish as well as English. Those who want to receive the messages in Spanish should text "Covid Espanol" to 67283.
The county will also be enlisting organizations in the communities, including churches and school districts, to help raise awareness of the protocols.
The county's supply of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers has improved, Mr. Bellone said, thanks to donations from the state and federal governments. A much-needed shipment of protective gowns, however, got misdirected to Allentown, Pa. Although they were due to arrive on Tuesday, he said, he decided to send a crew from the Department of Public Works to go pick them up immediately. "Four days is a lifetime during this crisis," he said.