Coronavirus

Friction is brewing over Covid-19 precautions in the Sag Harbor School District, where a group of parents lobbying to make mask-wearing a family choice is expected to state their case to the school board on Monday.

The politicization of masks and mask mandates to protect public health against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic was manifested on Long Island this week, with a New York State Supreme Court judge in Nassau County ruling on Monday that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s mandate that masks must be worn in public places when social distancing cannot be maintained is unconstitutional.

While the pandemic’s trajectory remains uncertain, the Omicron variant’s tendency to cause milder sickness, combined with the sheer number of those with a degree of protection through prior infection or vaccination, signal a period of transition for the virus that has upended life for the past two years.

As Covid-19 hospitalizations among children skyrocketed in December, particularly impacting children who aren’t eligible for vaccine shots yet, health experts and educators are keeping a watchful eye and doing everything they can to keep kids safe. “It’s really important that if you’re thinking about herd immunity, children are part of the herd,” a chief at Stony Brook Children's Hospital said.

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 continues to surge through Suffolk County, but there may be signs of a coming decline in cases, which reached an all time high last week.

More and more people are visiting health professionals to discuss anxiety and depression, and what's striking is not the new onset of these symptoms and conditions or the severity with which they are presenting but instead that so many people are almost apologetic when they bring up these concerns.

With in-person classes hanging in the balance, the Springs School Board adopted a five-day return rule for kids and employees out on Covid-19 quarantine or isolation — a distinct departure from the 10-day rule maintained by several nearby school districts. Another controversial Covid policy, known as test-to-stay, was under discussion in Sag Harbor, Montauk, and Springs this week.

East Hampton High School students will have at least two more days of remote lessons this week, Monday and Tuesday, with administrators planning a return to in-person classes on Wednesday.

The push to expand access to Covid-19 vaccines continues on the South Fork, with East Hampton Town adding five additional vaccination clinics in February and Stony Brook Southampton Hospital moving its clinics to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons to accommodate more appointments.

As we enter a new year and come upon the second anniversary of the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is time once again to review the most current guidelines for testing, quarantine after exposure, and isolation while infected with Covid-19. This is particularly necessary as the Centers for Disease Control recently updated their guidelines to reflect the latest known data about the rising Omicron variant, which has spread at an incredible pace.

Spurred by an avalanche of positive Covid-19 cases over the holiday season among families, kids, and teachers, virus-related impacts have been fast and furious in coming to South Fork schools.

With local positivity rates of the Omicron Covid-19 variant reaching close to 25 percent, East Hampton Town has announced five additional vaccination clinic dates in February. Those previously offered in January have been booked up.