Positive Test In Suffolk

Congressman Lee Zeldin’s office confirmed Sunday afternoon an individual has tested positively in Suffolk County. The identity and whereabouts of the individual have not been released as of yet, said Katie Vincentz, a Zeldin spokeswoman.

“The county [Suffolk] is doing the contact investigation right now — where the person has been and who that person has been with. There are privacy issues. We should know later tonight,” Vincentz said.

Vincentz said she was not aware if the individual is hospitalized or his or her whereabouts at the current time.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s office confirmed that the individual is a man in his 40s. He is currently hospitalized and in isolation.

The rumor mill has it a suspected case on the North Fork was sent via ambulance to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital over the weekend and that the test was positive. However, Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said “we have no cases in any of our hospitals” today.

“Suffolk County’s first confirmed case of coronavirus serves as a reminder for all levels of government to work closely together to try to contain coronavirus as much as possible,” Zeldin said. “This outbreak over the past several weeks has been a quickly evolving situation, and now is not the time to play politics, and, in light of this, I implore our partners in government to improve communication. At a time like this fear can oftentimes outweigh facts and we are even more susceptible to fear when the facts are hard to come by, especially with regards to many students being sent to our district from affected countries. Clear, open and constant communication is key to effectively combat this outbreak.”

rmurphy@indyeastend.com