Coronavirus

For those who have been using the pandemic as an excuse to avoid going to the dentist, Dr. David Mambrino, an owner of the East Hampton Dental Group, has a message: "I want people to know that it's safe."

East Hampton Village's ocean beaches are closed to swimming Friday after a shark sighting off Georgica Beach, and East Hampton Town officials have warned prospective beachgoers that popular ocean beach parking lots could again be closed this weekend as they continue to limit beach capacity to comply with Covid-19 safety regulations.

Stony Brook Southampton Hospital on Friday announced that for the first time since March 8, it has no new, suspected, or confirmed Covid-19 patients.

On a normal Monday in a normal July, the Quinipet Camp and Retreat Center on Shelter Island would be buzzing with activity, its lodgings, spread out over 11 buildings on 25 acres, filled with sleepaway campers newly arrived for a week of technology-free summer fun, complete with multimillion-dollar views of Peconic Bay. Now those spectacular views are being offered for a not-so-hefty price tag to families looking for a different sort of retreat.

Seven in 10 New York State voters believe that recovery from the coronavirus pandemic presents an opportunity to realign our relationship with the natural world and plan for future challenges including climate change, according to the Nature Conservancy, which surveyed 640 randomly selected likely voters in June on a range of environmental issues.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called a drive-in concert held Saturday in Bridgehampton "a gross violation of common sense," while Southampton Town officials responded to a state inquiry into the event by saying they were conducting their own investigation.

It might have been just another big summer event in the Hamptons, except that Saturday's Chainsmokers' concert at Nova's Ark in Bridgehampton took place in a world where concerts and other major events have been silenced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now the Chainsmokers' event management companies are being investigated.

The New York State Department of Health has opened an investigation into a drive-in Chainsmokers' concert in Bridgeghampton on Saturday night, sending a letter on Monday about it to Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman — whose own band was the opening musical act on Saturday.

Several East Hampton beaches were temporarily closed to late-arriving beachgoers on Saturday as officials tried to enforce Covid-19 restrictions on the busiest day since the Fourth of July weekend. 

The hospital's 1199 union members are still fighting for crisis pay, which they assert would help make them "whole" after they said they sacrificed so much on behalf of the Covid-19 patients, and other patients as well, between mid-March and early June.

East Hampton Town and Sag Harbor Village Justice Courts are closed temporarily after an employee tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week. Some 155 people who visited the courts between July 6 and July 20 have been notified.

For many teens, there has been an increased pressure to socialize in seemingly Covid-risky situations that come from a "desire to see friends after being apart for so long." These quaran-teens face social isolation that can compound pre-existing mental health issues at an already chaotic age.

With 46 new Covid-19 cases reported by state officials on Tuesday, just two deaths in the last 10 days, and a daily infection rate holding steady around 1 percent, Suffolk County appears to be maintaining control over the spread of the virus.

School officials in Amagansett, Montauk, Springs, East Hampton, Sag Harbor, and Southampton have all confirmed increased registrations of new students over the last few weeks.

The Hayground School in Bridgehampton on Monday announced its plans for resuming in-person teaching and learning "in anticipation of a final decision the first week in August" expected to come from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo regarding school attendance in general, school officials said this week.

Covid-19 has struck out the 2020 East Hampton Artists and Writers Softball Game, originally scheduled for Aug. 15 at Herrick Park. The charity game's organizers have decided it is not yet safe enough to play, but will continue to raise money for the four nonprofits the game supports.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association postponed the start of fall sports for high schoolers by about a month, from Aug. 24 to Sept. 21, and canceled regional and state championship events.

Long Island's daily Covid-19 infection rate has stayed at approximately 1 percent for six days, and there has been only one death in Suffolk County in the last eight days, according to data released by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday.

The East Hampton Town supervisor signed an executive order on Friday allowing already established gyms and exercise studios in the town to offer outdoor classes on separate commercial properties.

CMEE will officially reopen to the public on Aug. 3, a Monday. Families will be able to make online reservations for two-hour blocks of time. The museum has enriched its outdoor offerings with games like Giant Jenga and made its miniature golf course free with the price of admission. 

A return to in-person attendance at school in September is a real possibility and school officials here are hard at work putting plans into place for such a reopening, but whether it will happen remains to be seen as Covid-19 numbers continue to fluctuate.

Long Island may lose up to 375,000 jobs and nearly $61 billion in economic activity this year because of the pandemic, according to a study commissioned by Suffolk and Nassau Counties. During the first two months of the pandemic, 270,000 residents lost their jobs. It was the highest rate of job losses in the country at the time.

The small prekindergarten through sixth-grade school will see enrollment jump from 75 to 150 as families who relocated to Amagansett in the midst of the pandemic confirm they plan to send their children there in the fall.

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.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday announced an emergency health order mandating that travelers from states with heavy Covid-19 cases fill out forms with their contact information before leaving their destination airports.

A free swimming program at Maidstone Park in Springs has been modified, offering only intermediate and advanced instruction because of the degree of hands-on instruction required for beginners.

While nowhere near the kind of figures seen in March and April, the daily number of Covid-19 cases in Suffolk County has moved upward over the past 30 days. 

A set of 15-year-old triplets put their heads together to think of a meaningful way to spend extra quarantine time and gave life to what is now the Little Free Pantry of Wainscott.

Prohibited from opening their facilities since the economic lockdown began four months ago, the owners of South Fork gyms, yoga studios, and other fitness centers have been scrambling to create outdoor venues, online classes, and other ways to keep their businesses going. 

There were no deaths during the previous 24 hours, but 69 people tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the infection rate up to 1.7 percent as Long Island entered phase four of its economic recovery.