On Tuesday, Suffolk County reported positive Covid-19 numbers not seen since the end of May, with 102 new cases helping to put Long Island as a region at the 2-percent infection rate after several weeks below that. There were 69 new cases in Nassau.
Long Island is in phase four of the NY Forward economic recovery plan, but an angry-sounding Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone on Tuesday reminded people that progress could be rolled back because “the numbers are moving in the wrong direction.”
The Island's infection rate on Tuesday was higher than that in New York City. Suffolk's infection rate was even higher, at 2.1 percent, according to Mr. Bellone.
“We’re at 2 percent. If that number climbs to 5 percent, we’re not going to be able to reopen our schools. That will be terrible for kids and parents,” Mr. Bellone said. “Economic recovery is at stake. . . . We run the risk of having to stop or reverse this reopening.”
A "large percentage of the positive cases that we're seeing are coming from people 30 and under," Mr. Bellone said, specifying that "since June 24, approximately 42 percent of the positive cases" were in that age group.
An announcement late Tuesday morning from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo initially indicated that as many as 35 percent of guests at a single July 4 party in the county had tested positive for Covid-19. However, Mr. Bellone later updated that number to 22 percent, saying four guests at a party in Holtsville, where the gathering-size limit had been followed, had become sick.
“We’re doing contact tracing, obviously, every day,” he said. “There are several gatherings we’ve done contact tracing for going back to the Fourth of July holiday.”
Asked by a reporter whether there was any evidence of infection from large gatherings recently reported in Montauk and Fire Island, Mr. Bellone said, “I don’t believe that we have any positive cases that I’m aware of.”
He also said “we will certainly be stepping up enforcement if that is necessary.”
With the addition of those 102 new cases, Suffolk’s Covid-19 count rose to 42,214 cases, plus an additional 20,822 people who have tested positive for antibodies. On a brighter note, for a third day in a row, Suffolk County saw zero deaths from Covid-19, meaning that number still hovers just under 2,000. Hospitalizations across the county ticked up by one, to 41, and the number of patients in intensive care units remained the same at 14.
Also Tuesday, Governor Cuomo added Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ohio to the list of states from which newly arriving travelers must provide health and contact information or face a $2,000 fine, an emergency health mandate that he announced on Monday. Delaware has been removed from the list.
Mr. Bellone urged people to be vigilant about wearing masks, socially distancing, and following hand-washing and other health guidelines.
“These numbers should be a wakeup call today. This is not over. . . . We have not eliminated this virus. We have had many weeks of good, positive numbers, but this virus is still out here.”