Plans are in development to bring a Covid-19 testing site to Montauk, East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc announced on Friday. The announcement comes as officials eye Wednesday as the day Long Island can begin to reopen as a region.
During an appearance on “Facts @ Five” on LTV, Mr. Van Scoyoc said he has been working to help facilitate a testing site in the easternmost hamlet, describing an effort by the Montauk Fire Department in conjunction with Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and a private business owner. The site would be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he said.
A Covid-19 testing site opened on May 15 at 400 Pantigo Place in East Hampton. It is open on Wednesdays and Fridays. Tests are available by appointment at 845-553-8030. According to HRH Care, which is the medical practice operating two South Fork test sites in partnership with local municipalities and nonprofit organizations, the majority of Covid-19 diagnostic testing is still reserved for those who have symptoms, those who have been in contact with someone positive for Covid-19, and workers identified as eligible for tests by New York State.
Mr. Van Scoyoc also noted a continuing decline in new infections, hospitalizations, and deaths from Covid-19 on Long Island. Speaking at the start of Memorial Day weekend and its launch of the summer season, he said that because “our economy depends on the next several months to sustain many businesses through the year,” it was “critically important to bring businesses back online safely as quickly as possible, always keeping in mind that we can’t allow a resurgence of this disease.”
On Monday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said there would be approximately 1,000 people trained as contact tracers by Wednesday. The confirmed Covid-19 case count reached 39,090 on Sunday — numbers for the 24-hour period ending Monday afternoon were not immediately available — and another 12,409 people had tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies. A county map showing cases broken down by municipality and hamlet is being taken down while Suffolk transitions into a new contact tracing system over the next few days.
The first of a four-phase reopening is underway in seven of the state’s 10 regions. Long Island could begin the first phase as early as Wednesday, with activities deemed to pose the least amount of risk of coronavirus transmission first to resume. “We’re looking to fine-tune that locally,” Mr. Van Scoyoc said, “to the point where we assess the potential risk a business might have and get those low/no risk businesses up and running as soon as possible. ‘One size fits all’ based on industry or type doesn’t really address that. Local officials are in a much better position to make those assessments.”
Mr. Bellone said Monday that “we’re all very anxious and glad to see that we are on track to hit that phase one, and get the economy moving and start this recovery — what we know is going to be a long recovery.”
Arts and entertainment are considered among the fourth and final phase of reopening, Mr. Van Scoyoc said Friday. While events at concert venues and theaters “are probably not going to happen again in the near future without some major improvements in the way we treat the disease,” a site like LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, which offers 16 acres of sculpture gardens, poses little risk provided visitors follow protocol. Such a place, he said, “shouldn’t be lumped in with a phase four opening, because it doesn’t pose a direct risk. We need to get those up and running as soon as possible.”
The East Hampton supervisor said Dr. Bruce Polsky, an infectious-disease specialist, as well as two emergency medical technicians are advising town officials and reviewing reopening plans as recommended by the Business Recovery Group, which was convened last month.
The supervisor credited the town’s residents with adhering to protocols regarding staying at home to the extent possible, social distancing, wearing a face covering in public places, and proper hygiene. That, he said, combined with early measures such as closing the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter and the town’s senior citizens center, is why the town has the second-lowest rate of infection on Long Island. Only Shelter Island, with eight cases as of Memorial Day, has a lower rate. East Hampton has had 279 cases of Covid-19 infection, with 1,031 in the Town of Southampton as of the same day.
Among the metrics determining whether or not a region can begin reopening is contact tracing, an effort to identify those infected with Covid-19 and outreach to those with whom they have been in contact, as a means of isolating those with the virus to prevent further transmission. “We need to have people signed up and trained as contact tracers throughout the region,” Mr. Van Scoyoc said. Those interested in serving as contact tracers can visit the town’s website, ehamptonny.gov, or call 311.
With Reporting by Christine Sampson