SUFFOLK COUNTY, New York – With new cases of coronavirus emerging in Suffolk, County Executive Steve Belloni warned Tuesday that without immediate action, residents could soon see the return of the economic opening
“COVID cases are on the rise in Suffolk County,” Belloni said, adding that the new cases are likely to be related not only to super-distributed events but to small clusters.
“We think the current rise is related to the Halloween parties that were happening seven to eight days ago,” Belloni said.
His words came as a government. Andrew Cuomo also said that the number of positive cases on Long Island has nearly tripled in the past two weeks.
“We’ve seen the number of cases rise across the country and the world for some time now, and despite the sudden rise, we were able to lower those numbers on Long Island and across New York,” Belloni said, referring to Como and the public to adhere to social distancing protocols We bucked the odds for a long period of time and perhaps we thought we could avoid the fate of societies that re-impose restrictions. We can no longer say that. We no longer overcome those difficulties.
Over the past seven days, Suffolk County has had a positive rating of 217 compared to 11 percent on October 30, 14 percent on October 31 and 12 percent on November 1 Election Day, November 3, the positivity rate was 1 percent But on November 6, that number rose to 25 percent, with 260 positive cases, Belloni said; The next day, the positivity rate was 27 percent with 260 cases; As of November 8, the countywide positivity rate was 38 percent with 324 cases at the county level.
“These numbers are worrying,” Belloni said, noting that it is not only from a public health perspective but also in terms of the impact on progress to revitalize the economy.
If the numbers continue to escalate at their current pace, Suffolk County is preparing to become a « cluster district, » starting with the yellow micro-mass area and its restrictions as defined by New York State, Belloni said.
“We have seen countless places that have to back off from their economic reopening,” Belloni said. “This is where we are heading – toward one of those cluster areas.”
If no immediate action is taken, the entire county will likely become a cluster region, Bailon added
Belloni said a 3 percent positivity rate had not been observed in Suffolk County since May 25 The county-wide positivity rate remained at 2 percent or less from June through November
He said the answer is not just super-high-profile events that sparked « aggressive actions » by officials such as a wedding at the North Fork Country Club, but small gatherings like Halloween
So far, county officials are investigating at least one Halloween party and there may be others, he said.
Bailon said these small gatherings may not violate even the state limit of 50 people or less.
The county executive said Bellport’s birthday party fell within state guidelines for 50 people, but 36 of those present have now tested positive.
To this end, Bailon said the province is ramping up contact tracing operations; With around 50 investigators on the case currently working, the goal is to double those numbers, then multiply them again, and again, a third time
He said it is also essential that individuals be tested, so that the virus can be tracked, and people can be isolated and quarantined to stop the spread of society.
Unlike March or April, there are many test sites in operation across the county; Belloni said that many sites are free and quick test sites are also available
Residents attending the gathering are required to take precautions, such as opening windows, staying outside or wearing face coverings
Currently, the sudden rise in new cases is mainly observed in individuals between the ages of 25 and 65, Dr. Gregson Pigott, Suffolk County Health Commissioner, said
But, Bailon said, with family gatherings like Thanksgiving, family members may be most vulnerable to contracting the virus; He advised that family gatherings be of limited size.
Long Island, Suffolk County, Steve Pilon, Coronavirus, Super-Singing Event, North Fork
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