It had been three days since Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone was able to provide updated figures during his daily briefings on the number of residents who died of Covid-19. On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Bellone reported receiving word of 132 new fatalities over the last three days, bringing the county’s total to 825 deaths, or an increase of about 19 percent.
"I've been a little bit anxious — fearful of what it would look like, hopeful that it would be lower," he said, "but the numbers continue to come in consistent with what we have seen before. . . . They speak for themselves; they are staggering."
Hospitalization statistics dropped for the fourth day in a row — representing at least the fifth time in the last week — but the number of new, confirmed cases of Covid-19 still rose, Mr. Bellone said.
As of Sunday afternoon there were 27,485 confirmed cases in the county, an increase of 783 from Saturday. But the county also saw its largest-ever drop in hospitalizations; that figure is down by 97 patients, to 1,441. The number of people in intensive care units also dropped by another 10 patients, down to 508.
"We are hopeful as we move into the new week that that trend will continue," Mr. Bellone said of the hospitalization numbers.
That trend mirrored what is happening on the state level. Sunday marked five straight days in which Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has been able to announce a decline in hospitalizations. Statewide, there are about 16,200 people in hospital beds, a decrease of 745 from the day before.
Long Island has about 21 percent of all Covid-19 cases across the state, second only to New York City, which has 63 percent. There were 242,786 positive cases in the state as of Sunday morning.
"We’re watching for potential spread in other parts of the state, but so far we have contained it and controlled it," Governor Cuomo said.
Statewide, because there have been 13,869 deaths, Suffolk County has about 6 percent of all fatalities statewide.
In Suffolk, Mr. Bellone also said the county has lobbied the federal government for counties with populations under two million to be given access to new measures that would allow for property tax relief on a local level. That way, he said, the county could begin waiving penalties for late property tax payments and even allow towns to delay the mandatory collection of property taxes to begin with.
Suffolk has about 1.5 million residents.
"I'm very hopeful that we can get a quick answer on this issue, quick access, so that we are in a position in Suffolk County to provide critical relief for homeowners that have been impacted by this virus," Mr. Bellone said.
On Sunday morning, Governor Cuomo said the state would begin testing people for the presence of Covid-19 antibodies. The sampling would be widespread, he said. "That will tell us for the first time what percent of the population has actually had the coronavirus and is now, at least short term, immune to the virus."
Mr. Bellone did not have information yet on how the antibody testing program would be carried out in Suffolk. "Obviously, we'll be ready to work hand in hand with the governor," he said.