Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone declared a state of emergency in Suffolk County on Thursday afternoon after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the county more than doubled in a day.
There were 16 confirmed cases when Bellone made the announcement. New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced another 12 cases in press conferences later that day and on Friday, raising the total to 28. There are now 421 cases in New York.
Of the cases in Suffolk County, one patient is in Huntington; one is in the Town of Islip; eight are in Southold; four are in the Town of Brookhaven; and two are in Smithtown, according to Bellone. Ten patients are currently quarantined in hospitals and six are in home isolation.
The additional 12 cases announced by Cuomo were not addressed in Bellone’s press conference. His office did not respond to a request for comment before this article was published.
The Statesman also reached out to Stony Brook University Hospital to ask if they were holding more patients with COVID-19. Three of the six Suffolk County cases were quarantined there on Wednesday. The hospital did not respond before this article was published.
Forty-seven, or 14%, of New York coronavirus cases are currently hospitalized and 49 are in mandatory quarantine, according to Cuomo. So far, there’s been one coronavirus-related death in New York state.
Bellone also announced that mass gatherings with more than 5,000 people would not be allowed in Suffolk County. The county also recommends postponing Saint Patrick’s Day parades that are scheduled for this weekend.
Several parades, including ones in Miller Place and Westhampton Beach, have been canceled, according to a list compiled by Newsday.
On a state level, Cuomo is banning gatherings over 500 people after Friday at 5 p.m. Public places with listed occupancies of less than 500 people will have their maximum occupancy cut in half. Broadway theaters are closed starting March 12, through April 12.
Cuomo also said the state would be “accelerating regulations” to allow more health care professionals to work in intensive care units, and called on former medical professionals to be on-call in case health care facilities become overwhelmed.
The state is considering using temporary hospital facilities and suspending elective surgeries in case health care facilities become overwhelmed by the virus, Cuomo said.
Cuomo has also suspended all unnecessary visitors in New York nursing homes.
