Coronavirus

On her first day in office on Tuesday, New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul directed the state Health Department to institute a universal mask requirement for all children and adults in schools and an expanded testing protocol for all, and said she is also looking into the possibility of mandating vaccines for all school employees with an option to test out weekly.

A recent surge in Covid-19 infections on the East End is predominantly among those who are unvaccinated, and the Delta variant of the virus is the cause of more than 90 percent of cases, according to Dr. Fredric Weinbaum, the chief medical officer at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, who described the variant as a "survival of the fittest" version of Covid-19.

The East Hampton School Board is considering making Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for students who play sports on district teams or take part in after-school activities, though some questions remain unanswered at this point.

As of Monday, all staff and visitors at East Hampton Town Hall and other town facilities will once again be asked to wear masks, whether vaccinated for Covid-19 or not. 

With Covid-19 infections on the rise again in Suffolk County, South Fork business owners are reinstituting mask mandates and other safety protocols. "We got to a point where we realized we had to take a stand," said one, Eric Lemonides, a co-owner of Almond in Bridgehampton, where patrons 12 and over are being asked to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid test.

The county's guidelines closely mirror those of the federal Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics. They include universal mask wearing indoors for all, even those students and staff members who have already received vaccines; masks will not be required outdoors.

Starting Tuesday, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital's Parrish Memorial Hall will become a vaccine clinic offering Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson shots with no appointment necessary.

As the Delta variant of Covid-19 continues to spread in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control on Tuesday officially recommended that even people already vaccinated against Covid-19 once again wear masks in indoor public settings if they are in a region with "substantial" or "high" levels of community transmission.

There will be a pop-up Pfizer vaccination clinic on Wednesday at the Springs Presbyterian Church, 5 Old Stone Highway, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Shots will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

The percentage of people testing positive for the virus has slowly but consistently ticked upward, leading to fears of yet another surge, this time almost entirely among the unvaccinated.

High Covid-19 vaccination rates on the South Fork are giving residents and visitors the confidence to return to their pre-pandemic routines albeit with a dose of caution. 

"The emergency is over," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wedneday. Fifteen months after invoking emergency powers to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, he announced that the state of emergency will end on Thursday.