With East Hampton High School reporting 13 active Covid-19 cases this week and the middle school reporting another nine among staff and students, the two schools will switch to fully remote classes next week, the district announced Friday afternoon.
A drive-through Covid-19 testing site is scheduled to open at East Hampton Town Hall on Wednesday. The outdoor site, which will be open seven days per week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., has been established in response to the surge in coronavirus transmission across Long Island and in New York State.
By most measures, Suffolk County had its worst month of the pandemic so far: New cases per day were above 1,000 on 27 days, and hit a new high of just over 2,000 on Dec. 30. The total cumulative Covid-19 cases increased by 50 percent in the five East End towns during December.
Andrew M. Cuomo announced updated quarantine guidelines for New York State on Tuesday, aligning them with those of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Federal lawmakers on Monday passed a $1.4 trillion general appropriations bill that includes a provision to halt the public auction of Plum Island, the pristine 840-acre island that is officially part of Southold Town but is owned by the federal Department of Homeland Security.
Route 114 near Whooping Hollow Road in East Hampton was closed because of a downed utility pole that fell Thursday morning. There were no injuries, according to East Hampton Town police, and PSEG was working to repair the damage.
Governor Cuomo’s announcement on Friday that indoor dining in New York City would be curtailed as of Monday is the latest manifestation of a worsening Covid-19 crisis in the state, which now has an overall positive infection rate of 4.9 percent, but he emphasized that “living room spread” represents the majority of new infections.
Eric Casale, the longtime principal of the Springs School, formally resigned from his position on Monday after being on a leave of absence since late August.
New York State is closely watching hospital capacity because it is the primary vehicle of defense until the Covid-19 vaccines can be widely administered. "If our hospital capacity becomes critical, we're going to close down that region, period," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said.
The Bridgehampton School has quarantined one of its two sixth-grade classes for 14 days — 14 out of the 18 students that make up the whole sixth grade — after the administration learned a student in that grade has tested positive for Covid-19. Ten staff members are also quarantined, according to an announcement from the school district on Sunday.
