Health

Covid-19 continued to surge this week, with 1,034 new Suffolk County cases confirmed on Monday. That represents 7.2 percent of the 14,282 test results that came in that day; the seven-day average positive test rate was 7.2 percent as well. 

"Living room" spread of Covid-19 now accounts for about 75 percent of the virus’s transmission, New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday afternoon as he announced fine-tuned vaccination programs and precautions against the threat of a new Covid-19 strain spreading overseas. “Everything else is relatively de minimis” in terms of the risk of spreading the virus, he said, “and we’re in the heat of the holiday season.”

Four out of five East Hampton Middle School students agree: Going to school during the Covid-19 pandemic is tougher than it was before. Also, a disclaimer: In no way is that a scientific statistic, as the sample size was pretty limited, but the point is still accurate, according to the students themselves.

"There were more things to do that we can't do now," Emma Hand, a sixth grader, recalled during a Google Meet interview last week. "It's a little bit harder, but at least we get to go to school."

In partnership with the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, the East Hampton School District has continued to test its students and staff members for Covid-19, turning up zero positive cases out of what are now 290 tests.

On Monday New York State began distributing 170,000 doses of a coronavirus vaccine, including 26,500 doses designated for Long Island, which will be used to inoculate high-risk groups such as health care workers, nursing home residents and staff, and emergency medical services personnel. 

“What will happen in four weeks?" Governor Cuomo asked, as vaccines were rolled out across the state and the number of new Covid-19 cases continued to climb precipitously. "You tell me what you're going to do over the next three weeks or four weeks and I'll tell you what's going to happen. . . ."

During the first surge of cases in New York in the spring, so many of us in the health care field fought tooth and nail to uphold our sacred oath to heal and keep death at bay. Many of those under our care died, and with each one of those who passed away under our watch, a piece of our hearts died as well. We thought it would be worth the heartache because the rest of the country would learn from our experiences and be better prepared. But here we are again.

The Bridgehampton School has instituted remote learning for six days starting Wednesday as more Covid-19 cases were diagnosed there. One staff member and two students tested positive for the virus, according to Robert Hauser, the district superintendent.

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.

Section XI, the governing body for public high school sports in Suffolk County, on Friday postponed “until authorization is provided” the “high-risk” sports — boys and girls basketball, wrestling, and cheerleading — from the winter schedule that is slated to begin Jan. 4.

The School Covid Report Card, a state database that details the number of cases in local schools, shows one new case reported on Monday, three on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday. Of those five, four were students and one was a staff member.

Lately, I have had a number of patients refer sardonically to their “Covid 15,” a play of words on the colloquial weight gain that many college freshmen experience their first year at college. The effects of this pandemic are myriad and will be years in the delineating, but among them is definitely some degree of physical deconditioning for many people, myself among them. 

With Hmptns, a new line of CBD products including Accabonac Harbor lotion, Two Mile Hollow extract, and Butter Lane tincture, two South Fork residents are seeking to add cachet to the burgeoning market for therapeutic treatments made from cannabinoids, chemical compounds derived from hemp.

Hospitals here and across the state are preparing for a second surge of Covid-19 patients as case numbers continue to climb, and also awaiting the first round of vaccines, which will go to front-line health workers. Governor Cuomo has mandated hospitals increase bed capacity by at least 25 percent, and Stony Brook Southampton Hospital has said it is prepared to double capacity as needed.

Statistics are showing that schools with Covid-19 protocols in place are among the safest places for children to be, but remaining open for in-person classes may depend on staffing. "If we close, that will be the reason we have to close -- that we don't have enough staff to cover classes," the East Hampton School District superintendent said.

Best Pizza and Dive Bar on Napeague is among the latest round of 36 restaurants in New York State that have had their liquor licenses suspended for alleged violations of public health laws instituted under Covid-19.

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.

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 East Hampton School District tested 207 students and staff members for Covid-19 on Friday — and turned up zero positive results.

Now that multiple pharmaceutical companies have developed Covid-19 vaccines, federal and state officials are putting together plans for the distribution of those vaccines. However, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday said he has identified three major obstacles in the way of fair distribution among the general population.

One of the most common questions people are asking physicians right now is if and when they should consider being tested for the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19. It's understandable that people have questions about this, not just because the pandemic continues to rage on, but also because our understanding of how this virus works has continued to change as we learn more and more.

Thanksgiving wasn't just a one-day holiday, in the eyes of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. It marked the start of 37 days of dangerous revelry — 37 days in which state and local officials are predicting Covid-19 infection rates will surge as people shop, gather, travel, and celebrate.

From online laboratory simulations to individual sets of science supplies to constant cleaning of equipment, teaching and learning science amid the Covid-19 pandemic has been one big experiment in itself for local educators and students. In normal times students would be able to work in groups, clustered around a table sharing lab equipment like beakers, burners, and microscopes — but these are not normal times.

Governor Cuomo and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone both said they expect another surge in Covid-19 infections in the 10 days following the holiday, and looked ahead to what they each said they hope will be a more normal Thanksgiving next year.

One point of information included in a press conference by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday may come as a surprise to many in East Hampton: The Covid-19 positive test rate here was 4.41 percent that day, less than .2 percent lower than the average daily rate in Riverhead, which is under new restrictions as of Monday.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has instituted limitations on restaurants, houses of worship, and schools in Riverhead and Hampton Bays, the two East End communities that crossed a line on Monday into higher Covid-19 infection rates.

Parts of Suffolk County are on track this week to become a yellow micro-cluster zone according to New York State’s Covid-19 focus area system. In a yellow zone, mass gatherings, both indoors and outdoors, would be limited to 25 people, houses of worship are limited to 50 percent capacity, and there would be a four-person limit at tables in both indoor and outdoor dining.

A new case of Covid-19 diagnosed in a fourth-grade student at the John M. Marshall Elementary School has led the East Hampton School District administration to close that school to in-person classes for the two days leading up to the Thanksgiving break next week.

With coronavirus infection rates far higher in Hampton Bays and Riverhead than in other parts of Suffolk County, the county is increasing the number of testing sites in those communities to understand why, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said on Thursday. 

The pandemic has caused an ongoing surge in people seeking assistance from East End food pantries and other social services organizations, their directors said this week.