There were no deaths from Covid-19 in Suffolk County in the past 24 hours, County Executive Steve Bellone said at his press briefing on Friday. It was the first time since March 16 that he was able to make that announcement, he said.
"Today is a milestone," he said. "It's a tribute to our health care heroes." The number of new positive cases rose by 47, hospitalizations were down 17, the number of patients in intensive care units decreased by 4, and 16 were discharged from the hospital. The number of overall fatalities in the county now stands at 1,945.
The numbers are trending in a positive direction, he said, "but we still have a long way to go."
Addressing the economic "devastation" the pandemic has inflicted, Mr. Bellone said he has been lobbying the state to allow cultural institutions to open up earlier than state guidelines allow at present. "They got lumped in with mass gatherings like concerts, but we think they could open up safely now with capacity limits."
Mr. Bellone also praised the policing reform laws signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Friday. The Suffolk County Police Department has an anti-bias training program that the Justice Department looks at as a national model, he said, and the county is planning to extend the training to all the government's employees. There are not enough black people on the police force, however, he said, and the county is focusing on increasing the numbers so that the force will more accurately reflect the communities it serves.