Long Island “A Hot Spot”

While he expects the New York  as a whole to peak with a matter of days, Governor Andrew Cuomo said he still considers Long Island “a hot spot” for COVID-19, a sentiment shared by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.

Hospitals on Long Island that the governor flagged as novel coronavirus hot spots were North Shore University Hospital  in Manhasset, NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, Stony Brook University Hospital, and St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn.

There are over 12,000 cases of COVID-19 in Suffolk County. During a press conference on Sunday, April 5, Cuomo was asked if he would urge New Yorkers to stay at their primary residence and not travel to second homes on the East End, similar to what New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has urged for the Jersey Shore.

“I have not,” Cuomo said. “I’ll take a look at the New Jersey order. But I haven’t heard any local officials raise concerns about that here.”

Supervisors from the towns of East Hampton, Southampton, Riverhead, Southold, and Shelter Island sent a letter to the governor on March 27 asking for a travel ban.

“A new trend is in place that puts our residents at further risk — people seeking refuge from the metropolitan areas,” Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said via press release on March 25. “It is simple math: the more people that come, the greater the spread and the greater the confirmed cases.”

“I urge those who have homes at the Jersey Shore to NOT go to them at this time,” Murphy said in a March 21 tweet. “The local infrastructure, especially the health care infrastructure, is not prepared for the influx of part-time residents. Please stay at your primary residences.”

rmurphy@indyeastend.com