Coronavirus

Almost universally, high school seniors are lamenting the loss of a special year. "The world changed right when we were born,” said Heidi Bucking, a Pierson High School senior, “and now it’s going to change again right when we’re going to be adults.”

Before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the East End real estate market had been in the midst of a boom that led to the highest first-quarter revenues for the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund in its 22-year history.

New testing sites are opening across the state and the county, however much of the information remains ambiguous. Antibody tests are not widely available yet here, and diagnostic tests are still hard to come by and largely limited to those who are already showing symptoms of Covid-19 or who are essential workers in critical fields.

New York State Executive Law provides local chief executives “extraordinary authority during the course of a disaster," and since a state of emergency declaration in March, East Hampton Town Hall has been operating under a new command structure. Here's how that works.

Suffolk County can benefit from the Municipal Liquidity Facility, a $500 billion fund set up to provide a borrowing stream to help the country’s most densely populated areas, following the Federal Reserve’s expansion of eligibility requirements.

"We need to get this right," County Executive Steve Bellone said, because having to reinstate restrictions would be "emotionally, psychologically, and economically devastating."

The state-owned Montauk Downs golf course, which had been open, closed, open, then closed again, reopened for play on Monday, having been so directed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

When the staff at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital was challenged to a "dance break" two weeks ago by a sister hospital on the North Fork, they rose to the challenge. The result? An uplifting, energetic, three-minute video that has been posted on YouTube, gathering nearly 4,000 views in the last two days.

Everyone donned masks for the challenge, in which nurses, doctors, aides, technicians, and other employees moved to the song "I Got This Feeling" by Justin Timberlake. Most of it was shot outdoors, though some of the staff got their groove on in the hospital hallways.

"The town will continue to seek compliance with social distancing guidelines and parking restrictions and consider further actions as necessary to protect public health," Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said.

Drive-through testing will be available at HRH Care on Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment, with priority given to those exhibiting symptoms.

La clave para poder reactivar las economías locales y regionales, será el testeo para Covid-19 y en ese sentido se han redoblado los esfuerzos para poder hacerlo más asequible.

East Hampton Memorial Day observances, including the annual parade, rifle squad ceremonies at cemeteries, and a tribute to the lost at sea at Main Beach, will be canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the past 24 hours, 891 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Suffolk County, marking a drop-off from the surprising spike of 1,039 cases reported on Friday.

As New York State and Suffolk County continue trying to contain the spread of Covid-19, an up-and-down pattern in the detection of new cases has emerged. Suffolk saw 1,039 new cases confirmed in a single day by Friday afternoon.

Beaches raise the question of safety not only for beachgoers but for lifeguards, and the town is pondering whether or how it can keep beaches and parks open while protecting employees and the public and avoiding a subsequent wave of Covid-19 infection.

Covid-19 has cast a long shadow over the health care industry, and there’s a sense of trepidation and anxiety among the 65 practical nurses who are graduating Thursday from their Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services program. But there’s also a sense of hope and purpose among the graduates.

The recently passed federal CARES Act allows mortgage holders to delay payments on federally backed mortgages for up to 180 days, but it doesn't cover those whose mortgages are not federally owned or backed.

While the Covid-19 pandemic has brought business at East End hotels to a virtual standstill, several owners said this week that they are expecting an influx of guests this summer and will retool operations to accommodate them safely.

“It was a war. I would not wish this experience on anyone,” Stephen Rosen said, but family, friends, faith, and good fortune helped him and his wife get through it.

Couples all over have been left scrambling, deciding either to call off or reschedule their weddings as pandemic-related closures persist.

As increasing numbers face food insecurity here, people are helping to feed those in need through food pantries, community partnerships, and a new food fund that also aids essential workers and local restaurants.

While it is one of the most areas most heavily affected by Covid-19 in the country, the county falls below the eligibility threshold for aid. The County Executive has asked the treasury secretary to reconsider Suffolk's eligibility.

The restaurants and taverns that host their performances have been shuttered for more than a month, but technology is providing South Fork musicians with multiple avenues to be heard and seen, make money, and do good.

Suffolk County's number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases went up again on Wednesday to 844, contributing to a new total of 29,588, and an end to a three-day decline in new cases.

County Executive Steve Bellone acknowledged in Wednesday's press briefing that this was an increase from the 587 cases reported on Tuesday, which had been the lowest number of positive daily test results achieved since March 26. 

East Hampton Town will begin enforcing summer beach parking regulations on Friday, April 24, weeks earlier than the regulations usually take effect, in order to forestall overcrowding at beaches and in parks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A brigade of sewers and cutters is turning donated fabric into 1,600 protective masks outfitted with surgical-grade filters for East Hampton health care workers, first responders, and essential personnel in the town and village.

At one point the county was seeing at or more than 1,000 new confirmed cases every day. From Monday to Tuesday, that number dropped to 587, the lowest since March 26.

The ferries connecting the South and North Forks with Shelter Island now require that all customers wear a mask or facial covering, even inside their cars.

Private golf clubs, while still deemed nonessential, have been allowed to reopen to their members, the governor said, with restrictions.

On Sunday afternoon, County Executive Steve Bellone reported receiving word of 132 more deaths, bringing the county's total to 825.