Suffolk's Economy Could Begin Reopening Next Week
State and county officials expect Long Island to fulfill the seven metrics for reopening the economy early next week, as the spread of Covid-19 increasingly appears to be under control.
State and county officials expect Long Island to fulfill the seven metrics for reopening the economy early next week, as the spread of Covid-19 increasingly appears to be under control.
Farmers markets in East Hampton and Springs will not open this week as initially planned.
The county is awaiting an executive order from the governor before allowing the procedures. It is expected shortly.
In an executive order signed late Thursday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo extended the stay-at-home Pause order through May 28 for regions of New York State — including Long Island — that have not been cleared to begin resuming business activity.
The number of Covid-19 patients in Suffolk County hospitals increased by 10 on Monday, and a number from Tuesday was not yet available. The increase may just be a "one day thing," said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone at his daily briefing.
"It's been a very rough couple of months -- but at least now there's a sliver of light," said Claude Okin, who owns the Sportime club in Amagansett and numerous other tennis clubs in the metro area.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said the county now meets four of the seven criteria necessary for reopening, but will not be ready to do so by Friday, the day the PAUSE order ends.
On a day when Suffolk's Covid-19 cases topped 40,000, county executive laments that World War II veterans, the most vulnerable to the virus, cannot be celebrated with public expressions of appreciation.
Health experts say it’s still too early to gauge with absolute certainty the impact of antibodies on Covid-19 and whether they will guard against reinfection long term, “but we have to hang our hat on something,” said Dr. George Dempsey of East Hampton Family Medicine.
For the second day in a row, the number of patients hospitalized with confirmed Covid-19 cases in Suffolk County rose, though the county still met a 14-day decline in overall hospitalizations based on a three-day rolling average of that figure.
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