Coronavirus

On Tuesday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone pledged to work with local municipalities and nonprofit organizations on the East End to get Covid-19 vaccines to a region that is widely considered underserved.

Covid-19 continues to disrupt local tradition, with the Montauk Friends of Erin's St. Patrick's Day parade, gala, and grand marshal's lunch the latest victims of the pandemic. The Friends had announced plans to hold the parade on March 28, a Sunday, but yesterday, about five weeks out, word came of its cancellation. The 2020 parade had met the same fate.

A new Covid-19 testing site in Montauk is expected to begin operation next week and will be open every day. “Knowing that we’re trending in a positive way toward summer, the state will be looking for negative tests” in order for weddings and other large gatherings to be held safely, East Hampton Councilman David Lys said.

At the beginning of September, four South Fork college students talked with The East Hampton Star about their expectations and experiences so far attending school during the Covid-19 pandemic. One semester later, this is how it's going.

People have rushed and raided shelves for the obvious during Covid — hand sanitizer, disinfectant, paper towels, yeast for all those burgeoning home bakers — but they've also rushed to buy up unexpected things like dumbbells, balloons, Krud Kutter, tiki torches, and zinc.

In an initial effort to oversee local Covid-19 vaccinations, East Hampton Town opened a vaccination clinic at the former Child Development Center of the Hamptons Building on Saturday and provided shots to 332 residents, including first responders, teachers, and people who work in food and grocery stores.

In an effort to make sure communities of color have equal access to Covid-19 vaccinations, New York State and Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long will open a pop-up vaccination site at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton on Friday.

Bars, restaurants, and other businesses licensed by the New York State Liquor Authority can now remain open until 11 p.m., giving them an extra hour to do business. More New Yorkers with certain conditions now qualify to get the vaccine, and East Hampton Town vaccinated 300 people at its own distribution site on Saturday.

East Hampton Town will receive 300 Covid-19 vaccine doses from Suffolk County on Friday, and on Saturday will use them to vaccinate firefighters, teachers, and other members of the b eligibility group at the town's new mass vaccination site at the former Child Development of the Hamptons building.

Having read and written about the vaccines and their safety, efficacy, and side-effects profile, I knew that more significant side effects were possible when I went back to the hospital four weeks later for my second dose. And they definitely happened. 

A round of Covid-19 testing for East Hampton High School athletes and a more general testing session at the Springs School have turned up good results for both schools, officials announced this week.

Policing during Covid comes with a world of unprecedented stress, challenges that are exponentially greater, and the added worry of bringing the virus home to family members. "If you saw it in a movie or book you wouldn't believe it," one South Fork chief said.