Coronavirus

The county passed another milestone on Thursday as the daily number of new Covid-19 cases passed 1,000. Hospital capacity is also increasing, with 206 new beds and increases in equipment and staff.

Their meetings are not without technical issues, but local school boards have ventured into the world of virtual assemblies and live-streaming on various platforms.     

The Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center is now offering child care at no cost to families of essential workers, including, among others, health care professionals, food service employees, utility workers, and first responders.  

“Our focus today is on what is true right now, to focus on the actual moment rather than letting the stories of your mind take you to a place that is not necessarily true,” Leslie Pearlman said in her virtual yoga class. 

Even as the hospital continues to marshal resources to deal with the virus, “We are not stopping any of the emergency services that we do,” Robert Chaloner, the hospital’s chief administrative officer, said by phone on Tuesday.     

Religious traditions and customary burials have been upended by the prohibition on gatherings as the coronavirus continues to spread. While the dead must still be buried, loved ones are somewhat stifled in their grief without being able to mourn as they normally would.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last week clarified what “essential” means for contractors, halting most forms of construction through at least April 19 — school construction included. Districts in Springs, Bridgehampton, and Sag Harbor are bumping up against this order.     

As Warren Zevon’s song “Splendid Isolation” plays in my head I continue to cook, cook, cook, and explore our new world very carefully.     

The ban on restaurant dining during the Covid-19 pandemic has decimated the South Fork restaurant business, according to Mark Smith, a co-owner of the Honest Man Restaurant Group, and Jason Weiner, a co-owner of Almond in Bridgehampton. Both have had to lay off employees in order to remain finacially strong enough to reopen after the crisis has passed.     

After her grandson’s wedding in Italy was foiled by the Covid-19 crisis, Carolyn Snyder and her family, the owners of Round Swamp Farm in East Hampton, decided to spread some love here at home by delivering homemade soups and groceries, including chickens, eggs, milk, and pantry staples, to those who are housebound.     

Golf is apparently the last game in town, and, according to the head pro at Montauk Downs, Mark Fretto, new rules have enabled the beautiful public course there to remain open for play during the coronavirus siege.

Ed Porco and Joan Powers Porco, longtime residents of Montauk who more recently lived at Peconic Landing in Greenport, died last week of Covid-19 within four days of each other. They had been ill for two weeks.