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On the long road back from COVID-19, experts say driving on LI will be tough 

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COVID's economic impact: Some devastated, others unscathed 

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Lisa L. Colangelo

Emergency room nurse Kerita Jackson has been looking for ways to help ease the stress and sadness she has struggled with since the COVID-19 pandemic turned her community hospital into a war zone last year. 
Gardening helps a little. So do hugs from her toddler son. 
But like many nurses, Jackson, of Centereach, has been unable to shake the scenes of death and feelings of helplessness she experienced during the peak of the pandemic last spring working at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital. 
"We were doing everything we could, but the patients were not getting better," said Jackson, 39, who has been a nurse for more than 12 years. "I would sit in my car in the driveway and I would just cry for maybe an hour. I couldn’t talk to my fiance … Nobody is really going to understand until they saw what you saw." 
Experts say it is too soon to determine the pandemic’s long-term impact on the physical and mental health of nurses. Many have sought out therapy, medicine and the support of peers to help them cope. Others, however, have been reluctant to seek assistance. 
"A lot of us have superwomen complexes … it’s a big problem with nurses," said Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, president of the New York State Nurses Association, which represents about 40,000 nurses. "We think we can help everyone, but we can’t help ourselves." 
Even the more experienced nurses were shocked by the number of people who died from COVID-19 during those first grueling months dating to last March. With family members barred from hospitals, nurses stepped in to help lonely, sometimes fatally ill patients make phone calls and set up video chats. 
Several hospitals have Team Lavender programs that include a range of professionals from social workers to chaplains and even holistic medicine experts focused on helping staffers manage the pressure and anxiety. 
Sheridan-Gonzalez, who is a veteran emergency room nurse at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, said the COVID-19 crisis pushed many nurses out of the field. 
Some older nurses retired early because they feared they were especially susceptible to the virus, she said. Others were disheartened by the lack of protective equipment and support from the federal government during the first surge of the pandemic, as well as staffing shortages.
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Even as lower numbers of new COVID-19 cases clear the way to reopen the economy in New York, nurses are still fearful another wave is looming if not enough people get vaccinated and continue to take precautions. 
"They are emotionally tired," said Elizabeth Conklin, nurse manager in the Emergency Department at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island. "And we’re not done … we can’t let our guard down. We are still seeing patients come in." 
<h3>Impossible choices</h3> 
Jackson is a former flight attendant who went into nursing after watching her mother battle a severe illness. 
She and other nurses worked hard to tend to the flood of patients that showed up at LIJ Valley Stream. Between mid-March and early April, 360 critically ill COVID-19 patients were transferred to other hospitals in the Northwell Health system. LIJ Valley Stream is licensed to have 284 beds. 
Hospitals across Long Island and the nation didn’t have space and equipment to help people who were critically ill. 
"You have to figure out who do I give my last ventilator to, who do I give my last oxygen tank to," said Jackson, who grew up in Trinidad. "This is America … I never thought I would see such a bad situation where we didn’t have the basic necessities to give to the patients walking through our doors."
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She found little solace at home. In order to keep her family safe, Jackson stayed in a separate part of the house. She could hear her toddler son cry for her but couldn’t hold him for fear of making the child or others sick. 
Talking to her colleagues helped, but a tough bout with insomnia prompted her to speak with a therapist. 
"I’m still a work in progress," she said. "It takes time." 
<h3>Prayers, tears in the medicine room</h3> 
Growing up in Uniondale, there was little question Valerie Moskowitz would go into nursing. 
"My mom was a nurse," said Moskowitz, 52, a Valley Stream resident who works in the intensive care unit at Plainview Hospital. "Very special people in my life were nurses." 
When the first wave of COVID-19 patients started coming into the hospital, it reminded her of the HIV/AIDS crisis she experienced at the start of her career in New York City 30 years ago. 
"No matter what our efforts, people were not getting better," she said of the COVID-19 surge. "Patients were now on eight to 10 medications … they were also getting blood." 
Moskowitz said nurses often didn’t take time to eat or drink during their long shifts. 
"The food was there … it seemed too time-consuming," she said. "We didn’t want to leave our patients … the medicines were running at high speeds."
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Sometimes nurses gathered in the medicine room to pray, talk and cry. 
One day in the hospital, Moskowitz collapsed. She thought she was just exhausted, but she had contracted COVID-19. 
She sent her teenage daughter to stay with her older daughter out of state while she recovered at home alone. Colleagues were her lifeline, constantly checking on her and dropping off food. 
The experience made her eternally grateful and determined to take better care of herself. After recovering, Moskowitz had surgery to help her lose weight. As a result, her high blood pressure and diabetes are under control, she said. 
"A lot of us have experienced and are experiencing post-traumatic stress because it was a rough time," she said. "We have to continue to rely on each other." 
<h3>Taking its toll</h3> 
With patients isolated from loved ones, nurses took on another important role during the pandemic: surrogate family members. 
"We were their emotional support as well as their caregiver," said Conklin, who has been a nurse for 39 years and lives in Merrick. "It took a big toll on the nurses. You had to take care of them and then hold their hand as they died." 
Danielle Curry, nurse manager of the Hospital Observation Unit at Stony Brook Medicine, said she believes there will be "significant mental health concerns" for nurses after COVID-19 because of what they’ve been exposed to and what they’ve seen, especially for the younger nurses who started right before the pandemic. 
"We have had to really support them, help them and give them resources," she said. "Some are actively getting therapy, anti-anxiety and depression medication just to try to be able to work and function." 
The veteran nurse said despite her experience, she also was overwhelmed. 
"There were many nights I would go home crying," Curry said. "I could not believe what I saw that day."

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Talk, pray, cry: Nurses leaned on each other through COVID pandemic's trauma

Talk, pray, cry: Nurses leaned on each other through COVID trauma

When New York was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, front-line workers witnessed things they had never seen. Newsday spoke with two Long Island nurses about their experiences and how they dealt with the pandemic.


How Long Island nurses dealt with peak of COVID-19 pandemic

Newsday

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Vera Chinese

When the coronavirus pandemic began upending lives last March, Marit Molin set out to make life a little easier for hundreds of struggling residents on the East End, and a year later those efforts continue to sustain those who need a lifeline. 
The licensed social worker and community advocate has since helped deliver more than 5,000 meals on the South Fork through her nonprofit organization, Hamptons Community Outreach. The group’s offerings to the underserved also include no-cost therapy, free tutoring for schoolchildren, a diaper drive and a social media campaign that spread like wildfire. 
Those efforts are the reasons Molin, 43, of Water Mill, has been named the 2021 Suffolk County Woman of Distinction. She was chosen from a pool of nominees from all 18 Suffolk County legislative districts and was honored Tuesday during the virtual legislature meeting. 
Accepting the award on Tuesday outside the Sag Harbor office of Legis. Bridget Fleming (D-Noyac), whose office nominated her, Molin said the honor should be shared with the donors and volunteers who made her work possible. 
"People tell us about the beauty of the Hamptons, the beaches, the landscape, the farmlands," said Molin, who lives with her husband and two children. "What really makes this place so special is the people. Time and time again, I’ve seen the people of the East End step up and support their less-fortunate neighbors." 
<h2>FEEDING THE NEED</h2> 
Molin is the founder of Hamptons Art Camp, a Bridgehampton-based summer program where 40% of the students do not pay tuition due to financial need. With uncertainty last year surrounding COVID-19 regulations, Molin turned the camp’s annual fundraising efforts toward another community need — hunger. 
She put out the call through GoFundMe and letter-writing campaigns. The Hamptons community answered in a big way, giving $250,000 in cash donations and $70,000 in food donations. 
"I think the pandemic made everyone feel isolated and disconnected, and it was a way to lessen those feelings," Molin said. 
The work began by using the money for groceries as well as cooked meals from local restaurants like La Hacienda in Southampton and Pepperoni’s Pizza in East Hampton. The effort had a twofold benefit. Restaurants that suddenly closed during the pandemic received a new income stream, while struggling families were provided hot meals. 
The population served by the program is a mix, Molin said. It includes immigrants, but also local single mothers who may have lost their jobs during the pandemic. 
Hamptons Community Outreach also delivers meals to migrant farmworkers living in Water Mill who are from the American South and make their way to the East End to pick vegetable crops. 
"I think she’s the Elon Musk of social work," Hamptons Community Outreach board member Nick Gazzolo said of Molin’s outside-the-box thinking in a reference to the Tesla founder. "A real visionary." 
Today the service operates by bringing grocery and medical supplies biweekly to 150 households. 
<h2>OFFERING THERAPY</h2> 
Therapy can be expensive. Even more so in a place with a high cost of living like the South Fork. 
Couple that with COVID-19’s impact on mental health — financial woes, marital problems, isolation and more — and suddenly more people on the East End were seeking affordable therapy than ever before. 
"The pandemic just made life so much harder for people," Molin said. "We see substance abuse. We see an increase in anxiety, especially among adolescents." 
Through Hamptons Community Outreach, Molin and two other clinical social workers began offering no-cost therapy to those in need. The organization is applying for grant money to expand that service. 
<h2>TENNIS, TUTORING+</h2> 
The effort went beyond basic needs to include enrichment activities. 
The organization offered free weekly tennis and art lessons for the underserved at the Bridgehampton Childcare Center from volunteer instructors, including a former U.S. Open competitor. 
Joanne Comber-Jimenez, owner of Hamptons Pony, which offers riding lessons in Bridgehampton, will soon offer discounted riding lessons for underserved children, paid for by Molin’s group. 
"I think it’s going to open a whole new world to these children," Comber-Jimenez said. "I’m just inspired by her every time I talk to her." 
Money raised through the program also goes to tutoring, urgent medical care and birthday parties for children who otherwise would not be able to afford it. 
Roxana Duron, of Southampton, helped connect Molin with those in need during the pandemic, including a friend who was dealing with vision loss. The organization funded his corrective eye surgery. 
"I swear to God, she’s like an angel," Duron said. "In this world, it is very difficult to find people like her." 
<h2>#ICARE❤️ CAMPAIGN</h2> 
The ripple effect of Molin’s work reverberated through a social media campaign launched last summer. 
The campaign asked people to share an act of kindness on social media using the hashtags #ICARE❤️ and #hamptonscommunityoutreach and to encourage others to do the same. It also raised money in part by selling clothes with the #ICARE❤️ logo on it. 
The campaign drew attention from social media influencers like Bravo’s "The Real Housewives of Dallas" star Jennifer Davis and was shared by the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen, which also partnered with the organization to distribute food. 
Kristin Davey, a children’s yoga instructor from Sag Harbor, spread the word through her own social media account and by wearing the gear. Her daughter, Gaylin, a senior at Pierson High School, helped spearhead a diaper drive at the school that collected nearly 5,000 diapers. 
"I think she’s incredibly inspiring," Davey said of Molin. "I think she sets a wonderful example of what just one person really can do."

Long Island

Suffolk

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'She's like an angel': As COVID-19 gained strength, so did her efforts to lift those in need on the East End

As COVID gained strength, so did her efforts to lift those on the East End

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Sarina Trangle

It took less than 20 days for COVID-19 to deflate the economy. A year later, Long Islanders are still trying to find their footing. 
Doctors <a href="https://www.newsday.com/news/health/coronavirus/stony-brook-coronavirus-patient-1.44077871">discovered the Island’s first official case </a>of coronavirus on March 7, 2020. Ten days later, the first Long Islander died of the disease. Within another nine days, the state ordered businesses closed, except for essential operations like grocery stores and banks. 
By the end of March, New Yorkers suddenly without jobs <a href="https://www.newsday.com/business/unemployment-new-york-state-coronavirus-1.43568307">were placing 8.2 million calls</a> a week to the state Department of Labor — far more than the typical 50,000 calls per week — and the system grew overwhelmed, frequently crashing the department’s website<a href="https://www.newsday.com/business/coronavirus/unemployment-claims-backlog-1.43759779">.</a> 
Long Islanders <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/food-banks-low-on-food-1.50108002">turned to food pantries</a>. Some <a href="https://www.newsday.com/business/coronavirus/landlords-unpaid-rent-eviction-moratorium-1.50143168">ran up credit card debt</a> and <a href="https://www.newsday.com/business/coronavirus/renters-struggling-eviction-help-1.48663323">borrowed </a>from family and friends to make rent and mortgage payments. 
The government <a href="https://www.newsday.com/business/coronavirus/york-reopen-cuomo-business-1.44972064">began lifting restrictions</a> on businesses in May. But competition for job openings has been fierce. 
Newsday reconnected with Long Islanders we spoke with during the early days of the pandemic. One year in, a Lindenhurst woman is thrilled to start a new job, while an Oceanside resident worries nobody will hire her at age 90. Others are recovering from health emergencies, starting families and cherishing neighbors who stepped up when times were tough. 
Here are their stories: 
<h3>Unexpected kindness </h3> 

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A new gastro pub has given Sue Anne Konkle, a bartender, something to toast. 
Konkle, a single mom in Lindenhurst, lost part-time jobs at a sports bar and catering company early in the pandemic. Finding work was difficult: She took a position at an events company, but gigs were sparse. She volunteered at a Moose Lodge, but her tips weren’t large enough to justify paying a babysitter. And she filled in at an eatery until a new state curfew eliminated Konkle’s shifts. 
Earlier this month, Konkle began bartending at Belfast Gastro Pub. 
"It’s going to be life-changing," Konkle said, noting that the Lindenhurst venue has been busy since its debut. "I’m very grateful." 
Konkle described the challenges of living off $138 a week in unemployment in a Newsday story last summer. Although the government periodically boosted benefits, Konkle said accessing the aid remained difficult. 
Long Islanders stepped up to support Konkle after she shared her story. 
"All these miracles kept happening," Konkle said. "This stranger paid my rent. I had this other couple send me a check for $250." 
Staff and families at the Lindenhurst School District donated food and gift cards, which helped Konkle get a bicycle for her daughter at Christmas. 
Still, money is tight. Konkle is more than a month behind on her $1,500 rent, other bills have gone unpaid and she owes all of her friends money. But her new job has buoyed her spirits. 
"I feel like I took a year off of life … a hiatus from life," she said. "It’s OK though. We’re still here, and things are going to change." 
<h3>Optimistic about 2021 </h3>

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Osmond Fletcher, 62, a real estate agent and Uber driver, said while he’s not where he planned to be financially prior to the start of the pandemic, he’s in much better shape than he was last year. 
"I’m on my way," said Fletcher. "Right now, I’m OK. I’m not wealthy, but my bills are being taken care of." 
When the pandemic first hit and home showings were put on hold, several deals Fletcher had in the works came to an abrupt halt, putting him in a tough spot. 
"Last year I had put some deals together but none of those deals closed," he said. 
Worried about getting sick driving for Uber, Fletcher didn’t work for months and relied on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance — a special form of unemployment for gig workers and contractors — to cover expenses. 
But even as uncertainty loomed, the Brentwood resident remained optimistic about his ability to eventually turn things around. 
Now, having closed a home sale in February — his first completed deal since the pandemic began — and grown accustomed to driving with COVID protections in place, Fletcher thinks this year has the potential to be his best yet financially. 
"I’m not where I want to be yet, but the thing is I’m in position, so this year can be a very great year for me," Fletcher said. "It’s not back to normal, but it’s a new normal." 
<h3>Missing work at 90  </h3>

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For Barbara Levine, 90, of Oceanside, working was more than a means to financial security. It was a way of life. But after she lost her telemarketing job of 22 years last March, her life underwent a series of changes and "not for the better," she said. 
"I can’t stand my life the way it is," Levine said. "I would love to get up in the morning and go to work. I enjoyed it … and I did a good job." 
Shortly after losing her job, Levine joined the thousands of unemployed New Yorkers desperately trying to apply for unemployment. After failing to reach a Labor Department representative over the phone for weeks — sometimes calling 50 times a day — Levine eventually started to receive payments. 
She’s had no luck finding a job, and at this point, doubts it will happen, largely because of her age, she said. The money she is still receiving under unemployment has been a big help. 
"I’m in good shape," she said. "If somebody would hire me, I would run and get the job immediately. Nobody wants me." 
Levine said she’s faced some personal challenges as well. Her middle daughter, granddaughter and great grandchildren relocated from the Island to South Carolina over cost-of-living concerns. 
Additionally, Levine said she doesn’t drive anymore because of declining eyesight. All in all, the past year has made life much more difficult. 
"Everything has changed," she said. 
<h3>‘I was afraid’ </h3>

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Amityville couple Kristyn Lawson and Josh Campbell, both waiters, found themselves suddenly unemployed as a result of the pandemic. 
Lawson, 25, worked her last shifts at an IHOP in Farmingdale and a Red Robin in West Babylon on March 14. She had trouble reaching the Department of Labor to apply for unemployment benefits, but eventually was able to submit her application online and began receiving weekly payments of $419. 
In July, she was called back to work at IHOP. Red Robin never reopened, she said. 
But by December, Lawson — who is seven months pregnant — said an increase in COVID cases at the restaurant led her back to unemployment. 
"I had recently found out I was pregnant and at that time multiple employees had gotten sick with COVID," she said. "The restaurant would close for a day for cleaning but workers weren’t quarantining and I was afraid. 
"Things haven’t been easy … especially with the baby coming. That’s added a crazy amount of stress because I’ve struggled to get a job that allows me to work from home, and I’m too afraid of getting the virus since my pregnancy is high risk," Lawson said. "But we are getting by and pray things go back to normal soon." 
<h3>Health emergencies amid COVID</h3>

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Just as things were starting to improve, health emergencies struck the Mendez family. 
The neurologist’s office where Jessica Mendez, 27, worked shut during the early days of COVID-19; and her husband, Erick Mendez, had less landscaping work. 
Jessica Mendez, of Huntington Station, returned to work part-time in September. But in early January, she went to Huntington Hospital with an inflamed pancreas and high levels of fat in her blood. Staff gave her insulin, then a blood transfusion, and she ultimately had a stroke. 
"Everything in my stomach system, my whole organs shut down," she said. "I just thank God that I didn’t get any COVID because on that floor … there were like six people with COVID." 
Days later, a tree fell on Erick Mendez’s right knee. He was rushed to Huntington Hospital, where a plate was installed in his tibia. 
"The nurses were like, ‘Oh, he must have missed you so much,’" Jessica Mendez said, noting that the couple were discharged on the same day. "We made it through. We’re alive, and at home." 
Mendez hopes to return to work in April; her husband will likely need six months to recover. 
The family paid rent and bills with family leave and disability benefits, as well as help from the community. The kids’ schools and Helping Hand Rescue Mission collectively raised $11,800 for them. 
"People that we don’t even know helping us and supporting us — it’s just heartwarming," Jessica Mendez said, adding that she is encouraging her sons to give back. "We’re doing a little bin to donate." 
<h3>Finding personal strength </h3>

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With college graduation approaching, Amber Mahoney, 23, grew stressed when her waitressing shifts disappeared last March. 
The Bellmore resident graduated in May, as planned, and spent months applying to about 10 jobs a week. Mahoney said she’d initially been interested in bigger marketing firms in the city, but felt nervous about being close to others — and about rising crime rates. 
"I didn’t want to be in the city — between the public transportation and the fear of violence," she said. 
Mahoney has been able to pay her bills and stay with her parents, where she plans to remain until she is ready to buy a house. 
"Prices have gone up tremendously," said Mahoney. "I’ll be staying at home for probably longer than I would hope." 
In July, her waitressing job resumed, where she now works one shift a week. In November, Mahoney started working remotely as a senior customer relations coordinator at Bideawee, an animal rescue and shelter organization. 
Mahoney said social distancing has made it hard to observe and learn aspects of the job from colleagues at Bideawee. 
But telecommuting has shown Mahoney that she has the discipline required to one day launch her own business. 
"I never thought that I would have that strong personality, where I could hold myself to a certain schedule and be on top of myself like that," she said. "I definitely want to try and figure out how I can potentially start my own business." 
<h3>A new life, with amenities </h3>

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When Rian and Melissa Guy lost their jobs last spring, the Westbury couple made it their mission to "buckle down, cut expenses, save as much money as possible, and move." 
Five months later, Rian, 38, who had worked as a receptionist at a veterinary hospital in West Islip, and Melissa, 36, a former director at a performing arts center in Bay Shore, packed their belongings in a van. With their children Nesta, 4, and Gryffin, 2, in tow, they relocated to Georgia. 
Making ends meet on the Island was challenging for the Guys even before COVID hit. 
"The pandemic exacerbated the situation," Rian Guy said, "but we had been struggling for a long time." 
After marrying five years ago, the couple lived at Melissa’s parents’ house, unable to afford a place of their own. 
"Now, we live in a beautiful two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment … with every amenity you could ask for … and pay $1,200 a month," Melissa Guy said. "There’s no way we could find anything remotely comparable on Long Island." 
And they’re able to afford rent on one income. Within weeks of arriving in Georgia, Melissa Guy found work with a catering company, and in October, she accepted a full-time position as a grocery store supervisor. 
Rian Guy said he’s enjoyed staying home with the children and helping them transition to life in their new home state. 
"I am starting to look for work now," he said. But he’ll be doing it "without that … overwhelming stress of just surviving on Long Island. It just doesn’t exist here." 
With Victor Ocasio and Daysi Calavia-Robertson

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Where they are now: Checking in with LIers who shared their pandemic stories

One year, and counting: LIers cope with COVID

Sue Anne Konkle, a single mother, who had two part-time jobs in the hospitality industry, is now a bartender at a local pub and is feeling optimistic.


How Long Islanders are faring one year into the pandemic

How LIers are faring one year into the pandemic

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A year after schools shut down, a look back at the lessons learned 

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Rachel Weiss

The first Newsday LI Acts of Kindness story was published March 19, 2020. The goal was to highlight Long Islanders, whom we labeled as neighbors helping neighbors, facing a once-in-a century coronavirus pandemic. 
Thanks to dozens of Long Islanders, good news wasn’t hard to find. The stories poured in — through email, social media and those we interviewed, who knew of a friend or neighbor doing another good deed. 
The series itself brought unprecedented challenges. Interviews, often emotional, were done over the phone or via Zoom, with the lead reporter writing stories of compassion, caring and strength from her childhood bedroom. 
Those stories lifted the spirits of readers who shared feedback and words of encouragement such as: "Keep cheering us up. We could all use it!" 
And we did, for a full year. We wrote about a nurse donating thousands of dollars worth of equipment to treat respiratory patients; teens making masks and face shields; children sending cards to nursing home residents. One story focused on a mother and daughter creating a big, colorful message on their fence, in chalk: "Thank U Essential Workers." 
Some of the good deeds we’ve written about have grown from a moment into a movement, or changed with the needs of the pandemic. 
Even as life starts to feel normal again, and the rainbow messages of hope fade, Long Island’s many acts of kindness will be remembered. 
<h3>Sharing is caring</h3>

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It started with one Sharing Table. Mary Kate Tischler set it up on her front lawn in Seaford last November. It was filled with nonperishable food, toiletries and cleaning supplies, and Tischler had a simple goal in mind: for her neighbors to take what they need, and leave what they can. 
"I just thought it was such an easy yet effective way to help local people," Tischler said late last fall. 
Long Islanders, from Manhasset to Patchogue, agreed. There are now 46 (and counting) Sharing Tables — mostly on Long Island, with a handful in Queens, upstate New York and California. The Sharing Tables of the USA is now a not-for-profit organization. 
"It’s amazing that as soon as that article went out, that’s really how the momentum got started," Tischler said last week. "People started reaching out to me, saying ‘I want to start a Sharing Table, too,’ and it just really caught on."
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Tischler runs The Sharing Tables of the USA Facebook page. She set up an Amazon wish list of supplies needed for new Sharing Tables to get started. 
Then she formed a partnership with FREE, or Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. Based in Old Bethpage, the organization offers vocational training, employment and more to people with disabilities. 
FREE clients do plenty of community service, but the pandemic has made that challenging. But with the expansion of Sharing Tables came new ways for Long Islanders to help. 
Whenever Amazon wish list items are delivered to a member of the Sharing Table Facebook page, individuals from FREE pick them up and deliver them to Sharing Tables across Long Island. It’s a "huge help," Tischler said. 
She added there are also several tables waiting in the wings, and more than 60 inquiries she still has to go through. 
And to think it all started with that one table in Seaford. 
"I definitely never expected it to grow this much," Tischler said. "It’s almost become a snowball, rolling downhill and growing and growing. I think people are realizing how much need there is out there." 
<h3>From COVID tests to vaccinations</h3>

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As the pandemic evolved, Dorothy Santana recognized a need: Spanish language interpreters at COVID-19 testing sites on Long Island. 
Her organization, Latina Moms Connect, volunteered at a health center in Wyandanch. After nurses tested Long Islanders from their cars, the drivers could pull up and talk to volunteers about what happens next. 
Santana and her fellow moms did this in May. The coronavirus was still new, and many people they spoke with were scared. 
"To be able to connect with someone who speaks your language, it’s invaluable," Santana said last spring. 
Now, Latina Moms Connect has teamed up with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s office on a new endeavor: vaccination awareness. Santana and five volunteers have been going to delis and bodegas throughout Brentwood, Bay Shore and Central Islip to talk to employees about the COVID-19 vaccine. They provide literature, dispel myths and offer information. 
"The county executive recognizes that these bodega owners and workers are more open to receiving this information from community members that might look like them and relate to them in some way," said Santana, of North Babylon. 
The volunteers have found there’s a spectrum of awareness in the people they’ve met. Some are optimistic about the vaccine and encourage their co-workers to listen, some are more hesitant, and some don’t have access to the technology needed to make an appointment. 
"As a group, being bilingual and being Latina, for us to deliver that message to them is really powerful," Santana said. "We have a dialogue about the vaccine, raise their awareness and offer education." 
Going forward, Latina Moms Connect is also helping families transition from homeless shelters to permanent homes by collecting and donating houseware essentials. Their community service hasn’t stopped, despite still not being able to meet in person. 
"We want to spread ourselves out, and we’re hoping to reach lots of areas," she added. 
<h3>The lift they needed</h3> 

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Eve Miceli lives just a few blocks away from her mother in St. James. But with the restrictions on nursing home visitation, it seems like miles. 
Last April, Miceli’s husband, John, wanted to bridge that gap. He got in touch with a friend over at Xterra Tree Service in Wading River, and they provided a cherry picker bucket truck. 
Miceli was able to visit her mother, Lorraine Sayler, from her second-floor window at St. James Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center. 
"That was a big adventure, to get the truck there," Miceli said, looking back with a laugh. "It was a special day." 
Last month, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced new and expanded guidelines for nursing home visitation in the state. The department of health directive states visits can resume if the nursing home facility has been free of COVID-19 cases for 14 days. 
Miceli still hasn’t been able to see her mother inside since these guidelines were announced. But last week, she got to do the next best thing (besides going up in a cherry picker): the center started offering something called "window visits" for the first time since last December. The residents can use a staff member’s cellphone, stand by a window and call their loved one, who can stand outside to chat. 
Besides that, "I get to speak to her," Miceli said. She helped install a landline in her room right before the pandemic started. "I just couldn't see her unless I got on a ladder." 
Now, Sayler has been vaccinated. It’s only a matter of time before Miceli can hug her mother again. 
"She is so resilient," Miceli said. "She really is incredible, but she’s lonely." 
What’s the very first thing they’ll do together in person? "We’re going to play cards," Miceli said. "Crazy Eights — that’s her favorite."

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How Long Islanders came together with kindness, one year later

A year of kindness: Looking back at Long Island's good deeds

Mary Kate Tischler, who was featured in Newsday's Acts of Kindness in December 2020 when she started The Sharing Table, talked about how several people have reached out to her about starting their own tables. As of March 2021, there are 46 Sharing Table locations.


The Sharing Table continues to grow

John Valenti

A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Long Island's volunteer firefighting and medical first responders said they've made important changes in dealing with emergency calls and discovered unforeseen solutions amid the crisis. 
While many local fire departments and ambulance companies saw vulnerable members sidelined by COVID-19, members who would've been away at school or unavailable due to work became active. First responders also gained a heightened awareness of the value of personal protective equipment and decontamination, and developed new strategies in emergency response and coordinating with each other. 
"I think what the pandemic did was it brought EMS and fire closer together, by far," said Jamie Atkinson, a member of Suffolk County REMSCO, or Regional Emergency Medical Services Council, and president / director of Community Ambulance Company in Sayville. 
"Fire needed our medical expertise in dealing with situations they'd never dealt with before, and we needed their help in dealing with things as well — things as basic as, 'How do we decontaminate an ambulance?' … Firefighters never wore an N95 mask on a call, while we had them for specialized circumstances. 
"What it did was got us together," Atkinson said. "That's good."
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Though fire rescue and emergency response systems and protocols vary greatly among the more than 70 fire departments in Nassau and the 120 or so fire departments and ambulance companies in Suffolk, the common goal, Nassau REMSCO chairperson Thomas Mastakouris said, remains the same. 
And the goal now is adapting to the pandemic. 
"It's halftime. You're in the locker room. You've got to make adjustments. But we know the plan and we know where we've been getting beat on the floor and so making those adjustments, well … it's not as difficult now as it was at the beginning of the pandemic, when we knew nothing," said Mastakouris, who also is a commissioner with the South Farmingdale Fire District. 
<h3>New membership</h3> 
Many local departments, always in search of volunteers, saw unexpected upticks in new recruits. Melville Fire Department Chief Dave Kaplan said new membership for his approximately 120-member department might include five or six recruits a year. This past year, Melville welcomed 15 new members, he said. 
Some of that happened, he said, because high school- and college-aged recruits suddenly were home, remote-learning, while others were working from home — or perhaps not at all. 
"I think they saw what was happening [in the world] and said, 'What can I do to help?'" Kaplan said. 
Many of those recruits signed up to become medical responders, versus vying to be firefighters, he said. It's a similar story across Long Island. 
<h3>Rethinking how to respond</h3> 
The pandemic forced responders to find solutions that may ultimately provide long-term benefits. 
The biggest change is how 911 operators answer calls, and something called the "fever-cough," or FC, response protocol. Atkinson described it as a telephone-triage protocol, with operators asking basic questions that have proved hugely important for responders. 
One, do you have a fever? Do you have a cough? "They'll ask, 'Has the patient been exposed to COVID-19? Is the patient able to move?' " Atkinson said. 
The responses are relayed to police personnel, emergency responders and fire officials, Atkinson said. 
If a patient can move or be moved, he said, the caller will be asked to have that person go outside, into an open-air environment, if possible. If not, the caller is asked to open windows at the scene to increase air flow inside — or even to have everyone on premises assemble in one room. 
All of that, he said, is designed to limit exposure. 
And responders, knowing they might face a COVID patient, are now able to "gear up" with the proper personal protective gear before they arrive. 
"Human nature is to run in and help," Kaplan said. "Before, we'd send an entire crew inside. Now, knowing what we know, it's one responder to assess a situation. The whole theory has changed." 
Where medical responders used to wear PPE that was no more than a pair of gloves and blood-borne gear, he said, "Now, it's gloves, a gown over your gear, a face mask and eye protection." And for firefighters, gear now includes a face mask. 
Decontamination also has been vitally important, officials said. Firefighters with hazmat team backgrounds have provided guidance on cleaning and containment that even ardent EMS and EMT personnel weren't equipped for, Atkinson said.
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The basics have included decontamination of ambulances, said Mastakouris, who also is a fire commissioner in the South Farmingdale Fire District. 
The more stringent protocols hopefully will remain in place long after the pandemic, he said. 
For instance, Northwell Health has set up a special decontamination center for ambulances at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, while Atkinson said similar systems, run in conjunction with local hazmat teams, are in place at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore and at Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue. 
The procedures also help get ambulances and their crews back in service quicker, Atkinson said. And that can improve 911 response times. 
. 
As Mastakouris said: "We're all aware there's variants out there and so this thing could spike again. But, we know how to handle this now. We know how to knock it down. We became smarter, became more aware."

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A year into COVID-19, emergency responders say they've adapted, found new ways to serve

A year into COVID-19, emergency responders say they've adapted

Volunteer fire departments and other emergency responders on Long Island have had to change the way they answer calls during the pandemic.  At the same time, officials said, they have seen an uptick in young people — home because their colleges have moved to remote learning — signing up.


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COVID-19: From 799 deaths in one day to vaccine being 'passport' back to normalcy 

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As the coronavirus enters its second year on Long Island, Newsday's Faith Jessie takes a look at the progress of the disease through the lens of Garden City business Mac & Melts.


Faith Jessie takes a look back at COVID-19's first year on Long Island

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Miguel Chamaidan of Uniondale didn't understand why his hospitalization was making the news. 
Ricardo Ramirez was fighting nightmares while asleep in intensive care units at two Long Island hospitals. 
All the while, Josh Wortman had left Queens and sought refuge in Westhampton as the pandemic took hold in New York City. He was already infected, and ended up in a Suffolk County hospital. 
The three were among the thousands who ended up in Long Island emergency rooms as COVID-19 spread across the region in 2020. Long Island on Friday will hit the one-year anniversary of when its first positive coronavirus case was announced. There have been more than 311,000 cases diagnosed since on the Island, and at the peak on April 10, about 4,100 were hospitalized. More than 6,000 Nassau and Suffolk residents have died. 
At the peak of the crisis in the spring, patients crammed every corner of area hospitals, and medical professionals worked 60- to 70-hour weeks to help care for them. One of them, Sandra Lindsay, would make international news nine months later, as possibly the first person vaccinated in the United States. 
Newsday offers a glimpse of what life was like as the virus spread on the Island. 
<h3>'I kept wondering, what's the big deal?'</h3>

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It was an eye-opening moment: the hospitalization of Long Island's first known COVID-19 patient, at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola, on March 5, 2020. 
Inside the Mineola hospital, Miguel Chamaidan was oblivious to the fact his sickness had caused such a stir. In fact, Chamaidan said he didn’t even know what COVID-19 was. 
He also did not understand the potential severity of the disease.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50170644" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50170644">Story Widget Link</a>
 
"At the time, I had no idea," Chamaidan said. "Looking back at it a year later, I see that I am one of the lucky ones." 
He was the first of thousands of COVID-19 patients at regional hospitals, which led to news conferences and TV camera crews camped out on his street. 
"I kept wondering, what’s the big deal and why are people so interested in me?" he said. "I figured I had a bad flu or maybe I needed some antibiotics." 
The Uniondale man, who is married with two kids, works in the physical therapy department at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre. He also runs a private car service that takes Long Islanders to and from airports. 
To date, he does not have an inkling of how he came to be the Island's first patient. 
"I don’t know how I contracted it," Chamaidan said. "I guess it could have been anywhere. I’m not sure." 
Today, Chamaidan has largely recovered from the virus, although he said it’s taken some time. He said he sometimes still feels more out of breath faster than he used to. 
"Overall, I’m much better," he said. "I feel bad for the people who didn’t get through it." 
<h3>'The black shadow was coming'</h3>

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Ricardo Ramirez is still haunted by the dreams he had while in intensive care at two Long Island hospitals. The Rockville Centre father of two was admitted to the ICU at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson in March. After about six weeks, as he continued to decline, he was transferred to St. Francis Hospital in Flower Hill, in what Catholic Health called "a last-ditch effort to save him." 
Ramirez doesn’t remember much about the two months or so he was hospitalized. 
"After the first few days, my breathing got worse and worse, and I closed my eyes," he said. "I woke up in an ICU." 
What Ramirez remembers best, however, were the dreams he’d have while he was asleep. At least twice, he said, a black shadow was moving toward him. <a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50170646" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50170646">Story Widget Link</a>
 
"At St. Francis, I remember the black shadow was coming and I thought about how I didn’t want to go because of my family, my 5-year-old daughter who I want to see grow up," Ramirez said. "I started talking to God, asking him to let me wake up." 
In other dreams, he saw people talking about him as if he were already dead. He choked up as he talked about the dreams. 
"I’m so thankful that I am here," he said, adding that he doesn’t have health conditions that could aggravate COVID-19's severity and doesn’t know why the virus made him so sick. He said his wife and kids never contracted the virus. 
Ramirez, a biomedical engineering tech at St. Charles, didn’t make it back to work until August. Today, "I feel 99%. I sometimes am out of breath when I walk upstairs. I can’t walk around at Hempstead Lake State Park as much. But I’m doing well." 
<h3>'I'm grateful that I'm here'</h3> 
As COVID-19 started to spread throughout the city, Wortman and his family joined others in migrating to Long Island’s East End. Wortman, his wife and son left Queens and went to stay in Westhampton on March 14, but by then, he wasn’t feeling great. Two days later, he developed a cough. Less than a week after that, he called for an ambulance and was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead. 
"I was already sick when we came east, but I didn’t realize it," Wortman said. 
He ended up hospitalized for 11 days, connected to a ventilator for part of his stay. <a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50170649" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50170649">Story Widget Link</a>
 
"I remember fighting it, because, well, there was a tube down my throat," Wortman said. "A nurse came over and said I should relax or I was going to die. I said, sure, noted." 
By early April, Wortman had recovered, but the family has remained in Westhampton, where he works remotely and his son attends school remotely. Wortman still doesn’t go to stores all that often. 
"In the summer, I went bike riding and swimming, and I’ll take walks," he said. "The nature preserve in Quogue is great. But I’m not going to too many stores or restaurants." 
He remains grateful for the care he received while hospitalized. 
"I’m grateful that I’m here," Wortman said. "It’s almost weird to not have dinner together. It’s all part of the ritual now, which is great. That’s a positive." 
<h3>'COVID is very, very real'</h3>

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Sandra Lindsay plans to use her newfound fame to spread the gospel about getting vaccinated. 
The Port Washington resident, a nurse who is director of critical care at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, said she was stunned by the attention that came with being the first person to be vaccinated in the United States. The spotlight included appearances on national television shows and having her photo run in newspapers across the world.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50170652" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50170652">Story Widget Link</a>
 
"Now that I have the platform, I’ll make sure to keep telling people to get vaccinated and to understand that COVID is very, very real," Lindsay said. "It’s hurtful to hear when anyone questions how real this virus is. I’m here to tell you that I’ve seen what COVID can do. The vaccine beats getting COVID." 
Lindsay said hospital leaders knew there would be COVID-19 patients once the pandemic took hold in New York. Still, "Nothing could prepare us for what we saw. Patients were so sick, we tripled ICU volume. You could see fear, sadness and exhaustion behind every nurse’s eye shield. There were so many emotions." 
She said despite the volume, the patients haven’t left her mind. 
Lindsay also remembers the rare days she had off, in between 16-hour work days. 
"Maybe I’d go for a run, go to the town dock or catch a sunset," she said. "In reality, even when we weren’t physically in, we were working." 
<h3>'A great showing of humanity'</h3>

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NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola hit its COVID-19 peak on April 9, when more than 450 patients were hospitalized by the virus. The packed facility, however, was not the most unnerving aspect of the COVID-19 peak. 
"I walked the floors on the day we had our first patient, and the staff was ready, they believed that we would handle this," Dr. Joseph Greco, chief of hospital operations, said. "By April 9, the staff was tired, but we had travelers brought in to help, so everything kept running." 
Greco said the most jolting piece of the pandemic was the quiet streets of Mineola, which he noticed whenever he walked the hospital’s grounds to check on equipment and ambulance bays.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50170655" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50170655">Story Widget Link</a>
 
"The hospital? Hey, we had it covered. That’s what we do for a living, and we had control of the hospital," Greco said. "Outside, it was very eerie. The train stations and the restaurants were so quiet. There were no people around. You don’t plan to see that." 
Greco also remembers how health care workers were treated during the height of the pandemic. 
"We could do no wrong, and food kept coming in, because people wanted to help," he said. "It was an amazing time. It was a great showing of humanity, and something none of us will ever forget."

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COVID-19 wake-up: They faced the virus and found strength in survival

Looking back one year, 'I see that I am one of the lucky ones'

Some of Long Island's first coronavirus patients — including Ricardo Ramirez, of Rockville Centre, and Miguel Chamaidan, of Uninodale, who was Long Island's first coronavirus patient — spoke about their experiences contracting the virus and what it is like to be a COVID-19 survivor.


LI's first coronavirus patients talk about surviving COVID-19

Nassau

New York

Brookhaven Town

New Hyde Park

Port Washington

Rockville Centre

Westhampton Beach

Hempstead Town

Quogue

North Hempstead Town

Southampton Town

Flower Hill

Mineola

Port Jefferson

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There are too many grim one-year coronavirus milestones to memorialize this month, but March 11 brings one of the most sobering: the day the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. 
At that time, the international agency’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the number of COVID-19 cases outside of China had increased 13-fold in two weeks. Thousands of people already were dead. There were cases in 114 countries. 
The coronavirus was an urgent worldwide threat. 
This past year has been a poignant reminder of how connected we are across national boundaries and oceans, a shopkeeper in Wuhan tied to a waiter in Bergamo and a nurse on Long Island. It proved impossible to shield ourselves off entirely from the disease, which obeys no treaties, borders or geographic barriers. 
This past year has shown the tragic consequences of failures on the international level, from the WHO’s own caution and sometime-deference to China, to the failure of powerful countries including America to adequately fund and support the kind of global health efforts needed in the modern era. 
America needs to think more globally about infectious diseases. More cooperating, sharing of research and information, and offering aid to other countries can help stifle outbreaks before they travel around the world and arrive here. 
Our mutual reliance was not hypothetical last year. It is not hypothetical now. The next crucial moment for international cooperation has arrived: Vaccines must be made available to every nation. 
Industrialized, wealthy countries have used their heft to manufacture or import doses for their own people. But where is the morality in numbers like those noted by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in February, that 10 countries had administered 75% of all vaccines, and more than 130 countries hadn’t received a single dose? 
Once again, this could spell bad news even for those of us understandably exhausted by COVID-19. But we must keep in mind that the pandemic will continue to be a threat here if it simmers in the global south, with new variants spreading just a plane ride away from LaGuardia or Kennedy airports. 
The dangers are global; so are the solutions. Miracle vaccines were developed by scientists in multiple countries, with investments made by various governments to the benefit of their own and other nations. That intellectual property must be shared. Operation Warp Speed boosted some pharmaceutical companies here, and the Pfizer-BioNTech shots were backed by some German funding. The vaccine-sharing initiative COVAX has begun doling out doses to those that need the help, like Ghana. Initiatives like that need more funding and support from the United States and others. 
So many around the world have suffered over the past year from this shared scourge, and we are joined together anew by tragic bonds. May the connections we’ve discovered be a reminder for the future, about how we must learn to live together. 
— The editorial board

Opinion

Editorials

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COVID milestone a grim reminder to cooperate internationally

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In the year since COVID-19 sickened thousands of New Yorkers, doctors have learned important lessons about treating people with the baffling disease that comes from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 
The quick development of effective vaccines has been hailed by medical experts, even as the coronavirus challenges science with the emergence of variants. But there is still much researchers don’t know about helping the human body battle COVID-19, and there is no cure for the disease that has killed more than 500,000 people in the United States. 
"At the beginning, there were a lot of unknowns. It was very scary," said Dr. James A. Vosswinkel, chief of trauma, emergency surgery and surgical critical care at Stony Brook Medicine. "People came in and we did a lot of treatments. Some panned out to be beneficial. Some not so much." 
Treatments have improved since the pandemic's early days when hospitals were overwhelmed with sick patients, many of whom struggled to breathe. At the peak in April, there were 4,108 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Long Island. More than 1,100 were in intensive care units. 
The numbers are down today, as people are getting shots and doctors have found drugs and therapies that ease symptoms while researchers look for advances. Just about 900 patients with the virus remained in Long Island hospitals by the end of February this year, fewer than 190 in intensive care. 
Steroids and blood thinners have been used to manage the inflammation and blood clots that certain COVID-19 patients develop. The noninvasive therapy of proning — turning a patient on their belly — increases blood flow to their faltering lungs, possibly sparing many from ventilators. 
Despite earlier hype, the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine is no longer recommended for COVID-19 patients. The antiviral remdesivir has shown benefits for people hospitalized with the virus. 
"Therapeutics for COVID-19 have definitely lagged behind that of vaccine development," said Dr. Debra Chew, assistant professor at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark. "Unfortunately, we do not have a magic drug against COVID-19 … We are still studying what therapeutics work best, but we do know that most treatments work best in the early stages of the illness."
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Doctors and researchers have found reason to be optimistic about monoclonal antibody treatments. Dr. Kevin J. Tracey, president and CEO of the Manhasset-based Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, also believes the future of treating COVID-19 patients could be found in generic, tested pharmaceuticals used on other ailments. 
These drugs should be put through controlled, clinical trials to measure their success — or failure — with COVID-19 patients, he said. 
Feinstein, for example, is working with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on <a href="https://www.newsday.com/news/health/coronavirus/clinical-trials-covid-19-pepcid-1.50154591" target="_self">a clinical trial of famotidine, also known as Pepcid</a>. 
"Every story is about the vaccine, but if your grandma, your child, husband, wife gets sick, you want to know what the best treatment is, and the answer is we are not sure," Tracey said. 
He said not everyone sick with COVID-19 has access to monoclonal antibody treatments. 
"We can’t stop, we have to keep exploring," Tracey said, "especially when there are relatively cheap and safe drugs like famotidine, like ivermectin, like colchicine that we still don’t have all the answers. … We have to be focusing on getting the answers." 
<h3>Hydroxychloroquine</h3> 
In the early days of the pandemic, no drug got more attention than hydroxychloroquine, which has been used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. 
One of hydroxychloroquine's champions was former President Donald Trump. Some researchers said the studies that cited the drug's benefits were small and did not use control groups. In March 2020, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization that allowed doctors to use hydroxychloroquine on hospitalized COVID-19 patients. 
By June, the FDA had revoked that authorization, saying the drug had little benefit and could cause "serious cardiac adverse events and other serious side effects" in COVID-19 patients.
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<h3>Remdesivir</h3> 
In October, remdesivir became the first drug approved by the FDA to treat certain COVID-19 patients. 
Pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences said the research to develop the antiviral drug dates to 2009, when it was looking at drugs for hepatitis C. It was tested for use in 2014 against the Ebola virus. 
Studies in cells and animals showed it was effective against other coronaviruses such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), according to the National Institutes of Health — information that led researchers to think it might help with COVID-19. 
Clinical trials showed some hospitalized patients recovered quicker, leading to its approval. According to the NIH, the drug works by interfering with a key enzyme the virus uses to replicate the RNA in its genetic material — preventing it from multiplying. 
<h3>Steroids and blood thinners</h3> 
Hospitals across the country have turned to the common steroid dexamethasone to calm the inflammation caused by the body’s response to COVID-19. That response can lead to lung injury and multisystem organ dysfunction, according to the National Institutes of Health. 
"Early on, we looked at this as an inflammatory disease," said Vosswinkel, who survived his own battle with COVID-19 last March. "The use of steroids, once you get some pulmonary compromise, has been shown to improve survival." 
They started giving steroids to patients in need of supplemental oxygen. Staff also knew inflammation could lead to blood clots. 
"We started people on different levels of blood thinner," Vosswinkel said. "The data panned out that it was a good thing to do. We now know using different levels of blood thinner, depending on the degree of inflammation, can be beneficial."
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<h3>Ventilators and proning</h3> 
Last spring, as COVID-19 patients with breathing problems flooded emergency rooms, doctors often turned to mechanical ventilators in an effort to keep them alive. 
In most cases, the machines move air in and out of a person's lungs via a breathing tube. But there are serious side effects, including lung damage and pneumonia, according to the NIH. 
Doctors are looking at other noninvasive methods, including using masks and equipment for sleep apnea or applying a method called "proning." 
"By having someone lay on their abdomen, you change the way blood flow preferentially is in their lungs," Vosswinkel said. "When you are standing upright, more blood flows to the base of your lungs. When you are laying on your back, more blood flows to the back part of your lungs. When you are on your stomach, more blood flows to the anterior or chest part of your lungs." 
<h3>Vaccines</h3> 
Public officials have said the weapon that will win the war is getting people vaccinated before they are exposed to COVID-19. 
More than 2.2 million New Yorkers have received at least one dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, which both require two shots taken weeks apart. 
The Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine, which only requires one shot, could be key to getting more people vaccinated. On Saturday, the FDA <a href="http://newsday.com/news/nation/johnson-covid-vaccine-fda-1.50167446" target="_self">cleared it for use</a> after deciding it offers strong protection against serious illness, hospitalization and deaths.
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<h3>Monoclonal antibody treatments</h3> 
In recent months, the FDA issued two emergency use authorizations for monoclonal antibody treatments, described by the agency as "laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses." 
A single infusion of bamlanivimab was approved for adults and certain pediatric patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. 
A joint dose of bamlanivimab and etesevimab can be used for adults and children, 12 years and older, who test positive and are at high risk of progressing to severe illness. 
The intravenous "monoclonal antibodies appear to be effective in patients before they get very sick," Tracey said. 
<h3>Exploring generic drugs</h3> 
Tracey said more time, effort and money needs to go into launching and sustaining clinical trials to determine whether common drugs might help COVID-19 patients. He said the federal government should set a coordinated strategy to study potential drugs, whether they are generic or for-profit, organize the data and share it. 
He pointed to famotidine, the antiparasitic ivermectin and the gout drug colchicine as potentially showing some promise in COVID-19 treatment. But there should be larger, controlled studies to measure whether any benefit exceeds risks, Tracey said. 
"It’s not about effectiveness, it’s about risk-benefit," he said. "Some of the available treatments have benefit but also have significant risk or significant expense."
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<h3>Masks and social distancing</h3> 
Short of getting vaccinated, the most effective way to ward off the coronavirus is to follow the advice of health experts: Wash your hands, wear face coverings and observe social distancing protocols. 
Masks and face coverings have become mandatory, even though federal health officials initially did not encourage people to wear them when the first cases of COVID-19 surfaced on Long Island. Part of that advisory was based on the concern there would not be enough protective equipment for health care workers and first responders.

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