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Health

'Afraid to Go in the Ambulance'

Emergency medical service personnel on the South Fork reported this week that 911 call volume was down in 2020 as a whole but up in the usually quiet months of November and December. "People are, I think, afraid to go in the ambulance to the hospital, so things we normally see, we're not seeing people calling for," said Deborah O'Brien, president of the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Jan 7, 2021
New East Hampton Covid Test Site to Be Open Daily

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. 

Jan 4, 2021
County Daily Case Count Surpasses 2,000 for First Time

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.

Jan 2, 2021
Libraries Provided Books, Movies, Wi-Fi, Solutions

With Covid-19 beginning to invade the South Fork, the Amagansett Library director closed the doors for the start of an expected two-and-one-half-week shutdown. The library would not reopen to the public for months.

Dec 30, 2020
He Gave the Gift of Connectivity

When you know his background, it's easy to understand why Michael Donovan came to the aid of thousands of schoolchildren by donating Chromebook computers for them to do remote schooling during the pandemic.

Dec 30, 2020
Shelter Island Alliance Sprung Into Action

Brett Surerus, a property manager who leads several nonprofit initiatives, and Alex Graham, a marketing adviser at Compass, lead the Shelter Island Action Alliance, which was quickly established in March to simultaneously feed those critical health care workers and support the island's restaurants.

Dec 30, 2020
They Soldiered On in the I.C.U.

In the spring, when Stony Brook Southampton Hospital began to fill up with patients who were "all so sick at the same time with the same thing, that's when it really got hard . . . and everything we were doing felt like it wasn't helping," recalled Samantha Jiudice, an intensive care unit nurse there. "Now, when the patients come . . . we have a checklist. It's not easier, it just comes more comfortably because we've experienced it already."

Dec 30, 2020
Open for the Children of Essential Workers

When the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center got a call from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office asking if it could open its doors to provide free care to the children of essential workers, the staff made it happen.

Dec 30, 2020
Post Office Perseveres Through Pandemic

The region's post office clerks, mail carriers, foremen, and other employees have been doing some of the heaviest lifting of all: processing and delivering a record-breaking volume of packages and mail for more customers than ever.

Dec 30, 2020
Broadcasting When it Mattered Most

The government meetings of East Hampton Town and Village abruptly migrated from municipal buildings to remote video conference, and LTV, East Hampton's public access channel, was instrumental in hosting those meetings and virtually connecting the public to elected representatives.

Dec 30, 2020
Acts of Kindness and Free Fish in Montauk

After shoppers cleaned out the aisles at Montauk's only grocery store, two fishermen with a boatload of fish began handing it out to anyone who wanted it.

Dec 30, 2020
A Mask and Cap Sewing Brigade

Undaunted by quarantine-imposed isolation and a lack of supplies, Anne Kothari and Yuka Silvera spearheaded an effort to make personal protective equipment for hospital workers last winter and spring, ultimately donating hundreds of hand-sewn masks and caps.

Dec 30, 2020