Suffolk County has surpassed 40,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, County Executive Steve Bellone said on Friday, in remarks to press that included recognition of World War II veterans and a lament that the pandemic prevents public expressions of appreciation on the 75th anniversary of Allied forces’ victory in Europe.
With an additional 694 positive tests in the previous 24 hours, 40,483 people have now tested positive in Suffolk, Mr. Bellone said. Of that total, 3,961 are those who tested positive for antibodies, indicating previous exposure to the virus, he said.
Twenty-one people died of Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours, Mr. Bellone said, bringing the total to 1,568 in the county.
Due to a system malfunction, Mr. Bellone could not provide an update on hospitalizations on Friday. On Thursday, there were 719 people hospitalized with Covid-19, he said, 301 of them in intensive care unit beds. He did not have information on hospital capacity.
“Seventy-five years ago today, there were celebrations throughout the world,” Mr. Bellone said, “commemorating and celebrating the news of the war in Europe.” Under normal circumstances, World War II veterans, all of whom are more than 90 years old, would be recognized in public ceremonies, he said.
“One of the cruelest ironies of this is that at the moment we would be bringing together our World War II vets to thank and honor them for an accomplishment that literally gave them their name ‘the Greatest Generation,’ ” he said. That could not happen because “we know that the virus is attacking that Greatest Generation most ruthlessly and viciously.” He had taken part in a flag-raising ceremony at Armed Forces Plaza in Hauppauge earlier in the day, he said.
“This is a generation that sacrificed . . . that grew up in the Great Depression . . . called to fight halfway around the world in a world war.” The Great Depression, he added, was oft-evoked on Friday since the morning’s news that the economy had shed more than 20.5 million jobs in April, sending the unemployment rate to 14.7 percent, “devastation not seen since the Great Depression,” The New York Times reported.
The unemployment rate is almost certainly lower than the actual figure, as it does not reflect those who have had their hours reduced or wages cut, and the government defines the unemployed only as those actively seeking work.
“It really drives home the point, the economic devastation occurring as a result of this virus,” Mr. Bellone said of the jobs report. “It also speaks to why we are doing what we’re doing, getting ready to reopen the economy” by working with industries to develop and implement plans to ensure public safety and establishing coronavirus testing and contact tracing protocols.