Health

The infection rate rose from .7 percent Monday to 1.4 percent on Tuesday, but the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 was consistent with numbers from the previous several days. For sports fans, there's sad news: Despite the county executive's efforts on its behalf, the Long Island Ducks professional baseball team has canceled its 2020 season.

Other statistics also "continue to look very good," said County Executive Steve Bellone, who reported that Suffolk had an infection rate of .7 percent. "Those are great numbers."

After months of limiting or prohibiting visitors to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital announced on Monday that it will allow hospital visits by family and friends for up to three hours a day, with strict rules.

On Sunday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said Covid-19 data are still looking good as Long Island continues the first full week of phase three of N.Y. Forward, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's economic reopening plan.

It takes more than a pandemic to stop East Hampton's public access television service, which has emerged as an important source of information. 

Restaurants are allowed to welcome guests indoors now that Long Island has entered phase three of reopening as of Wednesday, but because of safety concerns, several East End eateries are opting to stick with outdoor dining and takeout instead.

In mid-April, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Suffolk County was reporting more than 1,000 new cases per day, but on Tuesday reported just 46 new cases. As the infection rate has slowed here, people concerned that they have been exposed to the virus are more likely to be tested at an outpatient lab, clinic, or doctor's office than at a drive-through test site, and the cost for testing can vary. 

On the heels of Long Island entering the third phase of New York's economic recovery plan on Wednesday, effective at midnight, travelers arriving in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey from nine different states must quarantine for 14 days.

Nurses and other health care workers lobbying to receive crisis pay from Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital picketed outside the two facilities on Wednesday to make the community aware of their efforts.

Even as the spread of Covid-19 appears increasingly under control in Suffolk, County Executive Steve Bellone said a deepening financial crisis has already led to budget cuts, salary freezes, and even a potential ballot referendum in November.

The number of people receiving hospital care for Covid-19 in Suffolk County fell to 90 on Sunday, marking the first period since March 22 that there have been fewer than 100 hospitalizations.

After a period in which no new Covid-19 cases were seen in East Hampton Town, county figures released on Friday showed an uptick of seven.