Coronavirus on Long Island: Updates for May 11

Trump bullish on testing in the United States

President Donald Trump said Monday that the federal government is sending additional funding to all 50 states to ensure local officials have the needed equipment to test for the coronavirus.

At a COVID-19 briefing in the White House Rose Garden, the president spoke without a protective mask, even as most if not all of his staff at the event were wearing them.

The president stated that $1 billion will go to all states and territories but earlier, White House staff said the amount is $11 billion from the CARES Act passed by Congress and the number cited by Trump does not represent additional funding.

"My administration will provide the supplies to help states meet their test goals," Trump said.

Right now, the president said, nearly 250 retail sites across the country are offering testing for anyone who needs one.

"There will be more than 300 testing sites by the end of this week," Trump said. "These additional sites are helping us ensure accurate testing in all communities."

Trump said anyone who wants a test in the United States can get a test but was quickly corrected by a member of his White House Coronavirus Task Force who said anyone who exhibits symptoms can get tested.

Trump also said that by the end of May the goal is for nearly 13 million tests to have been conducted across the country.

Vice President Mike Pence, who had isolated himself over the weekend because a member of his staff tested positive, did not attend the briefing. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Bellone: Suffolk meets 4 of 7 reopening metrics

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said the county has met four of the seven recommended metrics that counties meet before reopening.

He said hospitalizations, which are continuing to decline, and hospital capacity, which is at the recommended 70 percent, have met those guidelines set down by the CDC and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Bellone said there will be a dashboard on the county website showing progress toward achieving all seven metrics.

While the hospital data system is temporarily down, Bellone had state numbers of those testing positive in the county — 36,011 not including those testing positive for antibodies.

For May 8 and 9, the most recent data available, there was a decrease of patients hospitalized for the virus, bringing the total to 590.

There were 153 people discharged from the hospital over May 8 and 9 but 22 people lost their lives to the virus, he said.

Of the 881 Suffolk police officers given antibody tests, 51 tested positive, he said.

— NEWSDAY STAFF

Cuomo: Some areas of state on track to reopen Friday

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said at his news briefing Monday morning that New York is entering "an exciting new phase" as Friday's date for some regions in the state to reopen will move forward.

The governor, speaking from the Rochester Regional Health facility, said some areas in the state are "ready to reopen today and some are very close."

"We start a new chapter today in many ways. May 15 is the end of the statewide closure and the question is now going to shift more to localities to see if they are in a position to open," Cuomo said.

Several upstate regions will be allowed to partially reopen this weekend, with limited construction, manufacturing and curbside retail, the governor said. "This is the next big step in this historic journey," he said.

The number of new hospitalizations and intubations is down, but, Cuomo said, the number of new COVID-19 deaths, with 161 reported for Sunday, "is still too high." "May 10 we are just about where we were March 19, before we went into this abyss," Cuomo said. — NEWSDAY STAFF

Mayor de Blasio: NYC could reopen nonessential businesses as early as June

New York City could ease social distancing restrictions and permit nonessential businesses to reopen as early as June, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday, if indicators established by the state and the city continue to trend in the right direction. 

The mayor said he continues to worry that reopening too soon could lead to a "boomerang" effect and a spike in coronavirus cases, but the three indicators the city is tracking to decide when to ease restrictions were encouraging on Saturday. 

"I think it is fair to say June is when we're going to potentially be able to make some real changes if we can continue our progress," de Blasio said during his daily coronavirus briefing. 

The number of people admitted to hospitals for the coronavirus declined from 69 on Friday to 55 on Saturday, the mayor said, while the number of people in public hospital intensive care units dropped from 540 on Friday to 537 on Saturday. Thirteen percent of people tested Saturday for the coronavirus are positive, down from 17% on Friday. 

The mayor has said the city could consider relaxing restrictions if those indicators decline for 10 to 14 days. The indicators have been trending in the right direction in recent weeks, de Blasio said, but progress has been erratic. — MICHAEL O'KEEFFE

Northwell says it's down to 1,085 patients; Catholic has 307

Northwell Health on Monday said it had 1,085 COVID-19 patients at its 19 hospitals, a drop of 27% from the same period a week ago. It's also a drop of 68% from Northwell's peak, which took place about a month ago.

Northwell said it had 747 COVID-19 patients at its Long Island facilities, a 27% decrease from last Monday. North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset had the most coronavirus patients in the Northwell system, with 192. A week ago, North Shore had 272 patients.

Every Long Island facility at Northwell had fewer patients on Monday than a week ago, the health system added.

Meanwhile, Catholic Health Services said it had 307 COVID-19 patients this weekend at its six hospitals, all of which are on Long Island. At its peak about a month ago, the health system had about 900, said Dr. Patrick O'Shaughnessy, executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Rockville Centre-based CHS. — DAVID REICH-HALE