Coronavirus on Long Island: Updates for April 30

Trump announces plans to protect nursing home residents

President Donald Trump made several announcements Thursday designed to combat the devastating effects of COVID-19 on the country's nursing homes.  

Among the announcements, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will send supplemental personal protective equipment to all certified nursing homes nationwide. The federal government will also now require nursing homes to report all coronavirus cases and notify sickened residents’ family members.

In addition, Trump announced the creation of a commission involving federal, state and local officials with a focus on ensuring the safety of nursing home residents amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“No effort will be spared to see that seniors get the care and dedication they deserve,” Trump said at a White House meeting of business and government leaders, as well as the Coronavirus Task Force. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Summer Regents exams canceled

A summer round of state Regents exams, originally scheduled for Aug. 13-14, is being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, education officials said Thursday. The latest announcement follows unprecedented action taken earlier this month by the state Education Department to cancel the biggest round of exams, which had been set for June 17 through June 25.

Authorities have waived testing normally required for high school graduation, in the case of students who cannot take exams due to the health crisis. Testing scheduled for January remains on the calendar. – JOHN HILDEBRAND

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 drop below 1,000, Bellone says

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said for the first time this month the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals went below 1,000.

There are now 970 people hospitalized, he said and 114 people were discharged in the last 24 hours after being treated.

The peak in hospitalizations was 1,658, Bellone said. Another 22 people died from the virus in the last 24 hours, Bellone said, bringing the total deaths to 1,177.

Hospital capacity is just over 70 percent, he said, a benchmark the CDC uses for possible reopening.

If the current trend of hospitalizations continues, on May 5, the county will reach its 14th day of declining numbers — another “key metric” the CDC recommends for possible reopening.

There are now 34,802 Suffolk residents who have tested positive for the virus in the county and in hot spot testing the infection rate is 47%, he said.

He said antibody testing will be provided to law enforcement personnel, starting with 500 tests at the police academy this weekend. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Curran: Nassau NICE buses are deep-cleaned every 24 hours

Not long after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said New York will shut the city's subway system daily from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. to disinfect the entire fleet of trains amid the pandemic, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran reminded residents that the county's NICE buses are being deep-cleaned daily.

“Over a month ago we implemented deep cleaning every 24 hours on each and every one of the NICE bus vehicles,” she said at her briefing Thursday.

Cuomo had announced the steps with subways and downstate trains earlier Thursday. Long Island Rail Road and Metro North trains also will be disinfected every 24 hours, he said, though no shutdowns of those systems will be required.

Buses in New York City will be cleaned every day as well. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Fewer COVID-19 hospitalizations in Nassau; death toll hits 1,700

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said Thursday that COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county fell again by 76, to 1,292. However, 22 more residents have died in the past day, bringing the coronavirus death toll for the county to 1,700.

There were 23 fewer patients in intensive care units; a total of 374, she said. The rate at which residents tested positive increased slightly, to 17% from 15%, in the past day.

Still, that number has dropped significantly from a high of about 50% some three weeks ago.

Curran, in her daily briefing, said that viral testing continues to expand, with a site in Westbury scheduled to open Friday.

A total of 35,854 Nassau residents have tested positive for the coronavirus since March 5. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Cuomo: NYC subways to shut down daily to disinfect trains

The New York City subway will shut down from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. daily to disinfect every train, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday.

The news comes amid complaints that homeless people have been gathering on the subways, raising concerns for essential workers working and traveling on the trains during the coronavirus pandemic.

Every Long Island Rail Road and Metro North train will also be disinfected daily, but no service disruptions are expected, Cuomo said.

For essential workers who need to travel between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., Cuomo said buses, dollars vans and for-hire vehicles will be provided at no cost to those workers.

“This is as ambitious as anything we’ve ever undertaken,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo said the service suspension would begin on Wednesday. – NEWSDAY STAFF

De Blasio: Face coverings to be distributed at city parks
Free face coverings will be distributed in municipal parks by the New York City government, starting with 100,000 this week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

The program would focus on “hard-hit communities and high-traffic parks,” according to a slide at the mayor’s daily news conference.

“Everyone needs to have a face covering on,” de Blasio said, saying distribution spots would be listed at nyc.gov/facecoverings. 

De Blasio said he has avoided using the term “mask” to prevent a shortage of medical-grade masks needed by personnel treating the coronavirus outbreak.

Since mid-April, the state has mandated face coverings to combat the spread of the virus.

De Blasio also said the city is dispatching about 1,000 full-time personnel to supplement the NYPD’s enforcement of social distancing — a state order mandating that people who don’t live together stay six feet apart in public. – MATTHEW CHAYES

Former Nassau Democratic party leader Gerard Terry released from federal prison

Gerard Terry, a longtime power broker in the Nassau County Democratic Party, has become the second prominent Long Island politician to be released this week from a federal prison in the face of the coronavirus epidemic, according to records.

Terry, 65, of Roslyn Heights, had been serving a 3-year sentence at the federal prison at Fort Dix in New Jersey for evading $1.4 million in taxes and was due to be released in December 2020, the records say. His release was expedited as part of the move to decrease the population of the federal prison system to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

A public posting Wednesday on the federal Bureau of Prison website said Terry had been released under a national program in which inmates are released before their prison sentences are completed to halfway houses or, in some cases, to home confinement.  -- ROBERT E. KESSLER

Numbers for Northwell, NYU Winthrop continue to drop

Northwell Health said Thursday the number of COVID-19 patients at its 19 hospitals dropped to 1,752, a nearly 48% decline from the peak. The New Hyde Park-based health system, which operates 11 Long Island hospitals, said it has 1,667 hospitalized patients who do not have COVID-19.

"We are close to having more patients who do not have COVID," spokesman Terry Lynam said.

Still, people are afraid to visit hospital emergency departments despite the drop in COVID-19 patients, Lynam said.

"Our emergency department volume is down 50 percent," Lynam said. "That's an absolute concern.”

Also, Mineola-based NYU Winthrop said it was taking down a large tent that had been erected to help manage patients suspected of having COVID-19. A hospital spokeswoman said Winthrop was removing external and internal equipment in the tent, and the walls would be removed Monday.

NYU Winthrop has seen a 50% decline in COVID-19 patients since the peak earlier this month. – DAVID REICH-HALE