Officials: Two coronavirus-related deaths in New York State; total cases statewide at 613

New York's first two coronavirus-related deaths were confirmed Saturday: an 82-year-old woman who died in a Brooklyn hospital and a 64-year-old man who died in Rockland County.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the woman had been "long suffering with emphysema," and Rockland County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Laura Carbone said in a statement that the man, who died in Suffern, "had other significant health problems which were likely contributory to death."

The governor also said Saturday that he authorized bringing to Long Island the same type of drive-thru COVID-19 testing site that opened Friday in New Rochelle, the city in Westchester County at the center of the state's outbreak.

The announcements of the deaths came as the number of cases statewide rose to 613 by early Saturday night, including 79 in Nassau County, 41 in Suffolk and 269 in New York City, state officials said.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement that the woman who died "was admitted to the hospital last week as one of our first cases, and had been in critical condition ever since." 

She died at Wycoff Heights Medical Center, he said. Cuomo said she had been previously hospitalized for emphysema. 

De Blasio spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said the woman died at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. 

Speaking on MSNBC, de Blasio called the news "tragic."

"We're going to lose some people here," he said.

The man who died in Suffern on Thursday was tested posthumously, said John Lyon, a spokesman for Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

Lyon said "there are no public exposures associated with this case" at places like supermarkets or other stores, but he declined to say whether the man had a job and if there were possible workplace exposures, or whether the man lived alone or with others.

Older adults and those with underlying respiratory and other health conditions are especially susceptible to severe cases of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, and death, health experts say.

Drive-thru testing planned for LI

Cuomo also said Saturday that Jones Beach is being considered as a drive-thru coronavirus testing site. “We need a large, open area," he said. "Jones Beach has large, open parking lots that are available.”

Cuomo said the plan was to open a site by the end of the coming week.

“This is a large logistical issue because the facility itself, the tent itself, is a chore to construct, but we did it in New Rochelle," he said.

Cuomo said a drive-thru site helped to keep people out of busy emergency rooms.

"You don't expose yourself, you don't expose others, and it's the fastest, safest way to get these test results," he said on CNN.

Statistics on LI, in NYC

Nassau has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the state outside New York City, with 79, according to the state, compared with 172 in Westchester. That's up from the 51 the state had counted as of Friday afternoon.

On Saturday morning, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said that of the 70 cases that had been confirmed then, 10 people were hospitalized and three were in critical condition. 

County officials declined to disclose the locations of the new cases. Of the 48 cases that Curran discussed Friday, 34 came from Hempstead, 10 from North Hempstead and four from Oyster Bay.

Curran said 244 residents are in mandatory quarantine.

The Nassau County Health Department said in a letter dated Friday that there was a confirmed coronavirus case at Wantagh High School. A health department spokeswoman would not reveal whether the person was a student or staff member, but it said an investigation found "that there is potential exposure across the Wantagh School District" and the department recommended schools remain closed through Friday. The district said all school buildings would be disinfected before classes resume.

Wantagh is one of a growing number of districts on Long Island closing for periods of time ranging from a day or two to an entire month.

School leaders in some local districts are calling on Cuomo to close schools for at least two weeks. On Saturday, Port Washington superintendent Michael J. Hynes shared a petition on social media asking for the governor to follow the lead of other states and close our schools effective immediately.

“Governor Cuomo needs to follow the lead of other states and close our schools effective immediately," Hynes said Saturday.  "Children’s lives are at stake. I don’t know what he’s waiting for."

Cuomo said that although local districts should have the leeway to close schools if they believe conditions warrant, he is wary of a statewide closure order because it would force critically needed health care workers to stay home to watch their children, require other parents to miss work and deny kids access to in-school nutrition programs. In addition, he said, children would still be in contact with other kids outside school doors.

In a news conference Saturday afternoon, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said there were 37 cases in Suffolk County at that time.

Those cases include 14 in Southold Town, seven in Brookhaven, six in Huntington, four in Babylon, three in Smithtown, two in Islip and one in East Hampton, he said. In addition, 104 people countywide are under mandatory quarantine, he said. 

Bellone said that, due to the state of emergency he announced Thursday, the county is closing its Traffic and Parking Violations Agency to the public and suspending the boot-and-tow program for at least two weeks.

There are 269 cases in New York City, up from 154 Friday afternoon, according to state officials. De Blasio listed the number in the city as 183 Saturday morning. He said the discrepancy may be because the state gets more immediate information from more labs.

One of the new cases is a firefighter stationed in Brooklyn who went home Tuesday with coronavirus symptoms and tested positive Friday, de Blasio said. Thirty-one other FDNY firefighters will be quarantined, and the firehouse is being cleaned, the mayor said.

De Blasio said the city would consider spot checks of gathering places like bars and restaurants to make sure they’re obeying the occupancy restrictions imposed by Cuomo on Thursday. Gatherings of 500 or more people are banned, and venues smaller than that are required to reduce capacity by 50%.

“I don't want to see a bar where everyone's crowded up next to each other and we have to step into that case," de Blasio said. "So, we'll have more how we're going to do that over these next few days."

Cuomo said there are now 613 cases statewide, up from 421 on Friday. 

But, the governor said, “The number of positive cases is more a function of the number of tests we’re taking. The more tests we take, the more that number will go up. Nobody believes there are only 500 cases of coronavirus in New York today." 

There have been about 4,700 people tested in New York, Cuomo said, and the state hopes to ramp up to 6,000 tests a day following federal approval Friday for the state to authorize 28 private labs to do testing.

Anticipating a surge at hospitals

Cuomo Saturday again expressed concern that the state's health care system may not be able to handle the influx of coronavirus patients if the number of cases surges.

The NewYork-Presbyterian hospital system announced Saturday that it will postpone all elective surgeries, effective Monday until further notice. "Urgent and emergency surgeries and procedures will continue," the hospital said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The move "will help us to further concentrate on the adequacy of our equipment and supplies during this challenging period," the statement said.

In an effort to encourage people to use telemedicine rather than go to hospitals, Cuomo announced that the state Department of Financial Services would require insurance companies to waive copays for telehealth visits.

"When the anxiety is high, people have some symptoms, they’re anxious, 'Is this coronavirus, or this just the flu, is it just a cold?’" he said. "We don’t want them to go to emergency rooms."

Also Saturday, the Archdiocese of New York announced it would cancel all Masses this weekend in the 10 counties it serves.

Masses will go on as scheduled in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, which covers Nassau and Suffolk counties, the diocese said Friday. But Catholics do not have to attend them for the next three weekends, and they are under no obligation to receive Holy Communion.

Other Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu houses of worship also announced cancellations of services.

The state prison system announced it would suspend all visits, except from lawyers, through April 11 for its nearly 44,000 inmates. Attorneys and inmates will not be allowed to have physical contact.

With Jean-Paul Salamanca, Joie Tyrrell and Dandan Zou

By David Olson

david.olson@newsday.com,matthew.chayes@newsday.com@DavidOlson11,

David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.