Shelter Island has its first confirmed case of COVID-19, meaning the virus has now reached all five East End towns.
The information was provided by Dr. Gregson Pigott, the Suffolk County Health Commissioner, who provided an update on the infection rate in the county at Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone's press briefing on Thursday.
Mr. Bellone said there were 239 cases in Suffolk County, up from 160 Wednesday. East Hampton Town has two, Southampton has four, and Southold has 45.
The increase countywide, Mr. Bellone said, was a direct result of increased testing. More than 1,500 people have been tested over all, he said, and at the mobile testing site set up at Stony Brook University yesterday more than 250 tests had been conducted on the first day.
Out of the 239 cases countywide, said Dr. Pigott, 27 patients are hospitalized, and seven are in an intensive care unit. They are all adults. The number of fatalities remains three, he said.
Mr. Bellone noted that it will take four to five weeks before the infection rate hits it peak. At that point, the county will need far more hospital beds for the ill. To prepare, he said, the county is exploring using a property adjacent to the county correctional facility in Yaphank and the campus of Suffolk Community College for more ad hoc hospitals.