Suffolk County passed another milestone as the number of new Covid-19 cases was more than 1,000 in a single day.
County Executive Steve Bellone said there were around 1,140 new cases between Thursday and Friday. He said he expected around 1,400 more new cases by Saturday afternoon.
More than 10,500 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in the county as of mid-day Friday; 515 of the cases were from East End towns.
Mr. Bellone’s remarks in a conference call with reporters on Friday reflected a growing anxiety as the county — like neighboring Nassau County and New York City — races to expand hospital capacity and equipment as the pandemic threatens to overwhelm the system. Mr. Bellone said that the apex of Covid-19 cases in the county could come in one to three weeks.
Nine more residents died from Covid-19 infection in the previous 24 hours, Mr. Bellone said, bringing the countywide total to 93. They ranged in age from mid-40s to mid-90s, he said.
The county’s website listed 96 deaths as of 2:30 p.m. on Friday, an increase of 12 from Thursday. While 11 of those 12 had underlying health conditions and were within the age range Mr. Bellone cited, one a man was in his 30s and isolation at a local hospital, according to the website.
Two hundred forty-four residents were hospitalized in the previous 24 hours, the executive said, putting the total hospitalized with Covid-19 at 1,298. Of those, 401 were in an intensive care unit, representing an increase of 87. More than 24,000 people have now been tested in the county, Mr. Bellone said.
Hospital capacity is also increasing, with 206 beds added in the since Thursday, Mr. Bellone said, with corresponding increases in equipment and staff. There are now 3,087 beds, 648 of them are available for new patients. There are 561 intensive care unit beds, 43 of them available.
“Finally, a bit of good news,” Mr. Bellone said: in the last 24 hours, 93 Covid-19 patients had been discharged from hospitals. “Those who get the most sick . . . they do get hospitalized, and they do recover.”
He described “the medical equivalent of a war zone,” with health care workers “working one shift after another in this incredibly . . . challenging environment” in which they are putting themselves and their families at risk, because of a persistent lack of personal protective equipment. “Every hospital is in short supply,” he said. The county has distributed every piece of personal protective equipment in stock and continues to receive supplies from the State. “But supplies continue to be limited.”
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Friday that he would deploy the New York National Guard to transport equipment from places where it is not needed, Mr. Bellone said. Those localities “might be reluctant to give that equipment. You can understand that. There’s always this parochialism . . . but that’s now what this crisis calls for. What this calls for is community and working together and efficiency in order to save lives.” Institutions that give up equipment will have it returned or will be reimbursed, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Mr. Bellone said that the federal government should coordinate the movement of equipment. “This is a national emergency, it is described as a war,” he said. “Neither of those . . . suggests this be done on a state-by-state basis or a county-by-county basis, because we’re involved in trying to purchase supplies and equipment as well.” With the National Guard, the governor is “tak[ing] supplies to where the battle is happening now. We are hopeful that we will see the same kind of national effort.”
A Hauppauge graphics and sign company called 71 Visuals has shifted its operations make face shields for health care workers, Mr. Bellone said, and the county is purchasing 25,000 of them. He asked any business that is willing to make supplies for health care workers to contact the county’s Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services, or FRES, at [email protected], or to contact him via his Facebook page. “I will reach out to you,” he said.
He again asked residents to stay at home and practice social distancing if they must go out. “The best way you can support these hospital workers, protect the hospital system, is by doing your part in this battle . . . by following the guidance and doing the right thing.”