Officials made two key announcements on Saturday in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has announced an executive order to allow medical students in their final year of study to graduate early “to begin practicing now,” and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced that after giving out millions of masks and equipment the county has depleted its supply.
"We're down to zero," Mr. Bellone said Saturday afternoon. The county, he said, has distributed 1.7 million pieces of personal protective equipment and 1.1 million ear-loop masks — everything it had — to hospitals, doctors’ offices, urgent-care clinics, nursing homes, and first responders.
"The governor and the state are pushing supplies down and bringing them in from other parts of the country," Mr. Bellone said, noting that hospitals still have their own supply chains as well.
He could not say how many new health care professionals the county would now have after Governor Cuomo's executive order Saturday, but he said it would be a significant amount.
"These are extraordinary times and New York needs the help," Governor Cuomo said in his briefing on Saturday morning.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now officially recommending that people wear cloth masks when in public if surgical or N95 masks are not available, "especially in areas of significant community-based transmission" of Covid-19.
On Saturday, the death toll in Suffolk had increased by 28 fatalities to a total of 124. There are more than 12,000 confirmed cases in the county, including 49 in East Hampton Town and 181 in Southampton Town. Southold has 202 cases, Riverhead 139, and Shelter Island 2. The Town of Islip in western Suffolk has the most cases countywide, at 2,843.
"Cloth face coverings should fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face; be secured with ties or ear loops; include multiple layers of fabric; allow for breathing without restriction; and be able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape," the C.D.C. says on its website.
Also on Saturday, Mr. Bellone said hospital capacity has now topped 3,000 beds and 580 I.C.U. beds, numbers that will continue to rise. Of those, Mr. Bellone said, there were 631 hospital beds and 72 I.C.U. beds available.
He said 96 people have been discharged from the hospital. "That is the number we all like to see."
He also urged people who have fully recovered from Covid-19 to consider donating blood plasma to the Red Cross. The antibodies contained in their "convalescent plasma" could be used to help treat people who are now sick.
"We encourage anyone who is in that category" to donate, Mr. Bellone said. "If you do that . . . you may be saving someone's life."