Update, March 27, 7:30 p.m.: Thirty people in Suffolk County have died from COVID-19 infection, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced on Friday, after eight more fatalities were recorded in recent days.
Cases across the county continue to rise. On Friday evening, County Legislator Bridget Fleming said during her own press briefing that East Hampton had 20 confirmed cases, Southampton 68, Southold 133, Riverhead 58, and Shelter Island 1. Previous reports that there were two cases on Shelter Island had been in error, she said.
Six of the eight new fatalities were of people in their 80s or above, said Mr. Bellone, who also announced that he expected to be released from a mandatory 14-day quarantine tomorrow. He is under quarantine because of the positive COVID-19 diagnoses of two members of his senior staff. One patient who died on Wednesday was in his 40s, and a death on Monday was a man in his 60s, Mr. Bellone said. Nearly all of the eight fatalities had an underlying medical condition.
“Eight new fatalities to confirm today drives home the point of why we have to do this, why all of us have an important role to play in helping reduce that number,” Mr. Bellone said of following health care guidelines such as social distancing to reduce transmission. “Our actions . . . in the coming days and weeks will help determine how high that death toll goes. If we do limit transmission, we know those numbers will come down, the death toll will be less. Our hospital system will be in a much better position to withstand the surge that is coming and not become overwhelmed, which is the primary objective.”
There are now 331 confirmed COVID-19-related hospitalizations in the county, a number that has more than doubled in three days. “To put it in perspective, a few days ago we were at 163 hospitalizations,” Mr. Bellone said. “Of course we’re looking closely at [intensive care unit] beds -- that’s where the most serious cases, the individuals who are in real jeopardy, are. That number continues to rise.” There are at present 119 I.C.U. hospitalizations, he said, where three days ago there were 50. “Our expectation is it will continue to rise significantly as we get closer and closer to this surge peaking,” the point at which COVID-19 diagnoses crest, now estimated to be 14 to 21 days from now.
Moments after Mr. Bellone spoke, CNN reported that 265 people had died of COVID-19 infection in the United States on Friday, as of the early afternoon. “This is the moment that it is critical,” Mr. Bellone said. “I know the weather is warmer . . . it’s more and more tempting to get out there, but I continue to urge the public to do everything they can to keep distance. We are getting closer to that surge period. We don’t exactly know, but we can start to see that surge happening, in hospitalizations increasing. The only way we can reduce the impact is reducing transmissions. . . . We do that by following health department guidance.”
Some 4,200 diagnostic tests have been conducted at the mobile testing site at Stony Brook University, Mr. Bellone said. “We are seeing a lot more testing happening every day, which is why we’re seeing numbers rise every day.”
Eighteen police officers have tested positive for COVID-19 infection and one is hospitalized, Mr. Bellone said.
On Friday the county’s Police Academy graduated 60 new officers -- one week ahead of schedule, a decision made last month. No ceremony was held. The new officers were immediately designated a “TEC” team, for Together Ensuring Compliance. They are to be deployed to public places like parks and shopping centers to ensure that places and businesses that are supposed to be closed are. When they encounter excessive congregation they are to educate people as to the dangers during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“This has been a completely bizarre experience,” Mr. Bellone said of his quarantine period, “but every single one of us has had, somewhere or another, our lives turned upside down. . . . Many things have changed in a very quick, rapid period of time.”
--
Editor's note: This article was updated after its original posting to reflect new numbers of positive COVID-19 cases on the East End that were provided by County Legislator Bridget Fleming on Friday evening.