Virus 'hot spots' identified on LI
State: Long Island neighborhoods among 'hot spots'
A sign promoting mask usage is seen on a business along Main Street in Huntington Village on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Among areas identified by the state as having higher positivity rates are ZIP codes centered around Huntington Station and South Huntington areas, Valley Stream and North Valley Stream, and Brentwood. At all of them, 3% of people tested came back positive.
However, the percentages represent a handful of cases in each of those communities:
- The 11746 ZIP code in Huntington Station had 5 positives out of 183 tested
- The 11717 ZIP code in Brentwood had 4 out of 125 tested
- The 11580 ZIP code in Valley Stream had 4 positives out of 138 tested.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had earlier gone down a list of ZIP codes mostly in the borough of Brooklyn and in the Mid-Hudson counties of Rockland and Orange during his briefing Wednesday, but said that Nassau County "has a couple of communities affected" with higher positivity rates.
It's time, Cuomo argued, for local governments to step up efforts to enforce mask wearing, social distancing and other rules that aim to limit outbreaks.
"They have to enforce the law and they are not doing it with enough diligence. Period," Cuomo said.
Cases reported at Long Island schools: Students, teachers or staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus at schools in some districts. Here's a roundup.
The number of new positives reported today: 66 in Nassau, 53 in Suffolk, 446 in New York City and 1,000 statewide.
The chart below shows the total number of people hospitalized for the coronavirus on each day in the past month. Search a map of cases, and view more charts showing the latest local trends in testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
These bars track how many patients are hospitalized for coronavirus each day by the location of the hospital.
Northwell: New tool helps hospitals predict virus outbreaks
A new software tool developed by Northwell Health will help the hospital network mine its data to forecast COVID-19 outbreaks weeks before they happen, hospital executives said.
The two-week advance warning system was created this summer by the customer insights group, in collaboration with information technology and clinical teams.
The new digital predictor collects 15 indicators and feeds them into a machine learning algorithm to recognize patterns in website traffic, which includes everything from emergency department wait time searches to physician page clicks. The result is a rolling two-week forecast that has closely mirrored caseload to date.
New Hyde Park-based Northwell said being able to anticipate a COVID-19 surge helps prepare staffing, supplies and patient handling.
Brentwood school district eliminates 70 jobs
Laurel Park Elementary School PTA President Sandy Alfaro stands outside the Brentwood Union Free School District administration center Tuesday. Credit: Barry Sloan
The Brentwood district, Long Island's largest, has shed more than 70 jobs since the beginning of the academic year, including a group of entry-level teachers removed in the opening week of classes.
Job actions in the district — which enrolls nearly 19,000 students — included decisions to leave unfilled more than 30 vacancies created by retirements, according to union representatives and community residents.
Also eliminated were positions of special "intervention" tutors in reading and math, together with high school deans, who are similar to assistant principals.
In a statement Tuesday, the district said many excessed staffers were moved to other vacant jobs or placed on preferred eligibility lists for future hiring.
School officials: Pandemic changes are 'new tools' for learning
Now that Long Island schools have reopened, some district officials say they’re still adjusting to the varied needs of students taking classes in person, remotely or through a hybrid model.
And some officials said they don’t see that three-part model of learning going away. School officials spoke about their experiences during a Newsday Live panel on Tuesday titled "Lessons Learned: How is School Reopening Going?"
"I see the use of technology improving, not only for remote or hybrid learning but within classrooms," said Glen Eschbach, superintendent of schools at the North Babylon School District. "I’m not necessarily sure that we need to make school look exactly like it did before the pandemic because there’s a lot of great things coming out of these changes and that I believe we’ll land at a new normal."
Read more and re-watch the full webinar here.
Animal nonprofit comes to the rescue of pets in Wyandanch
Tay Smith, of Wyandanch, carries her pug Mimi to the vehicle of Rebecca Herlihy, outreach coordinator for Training Wheels, who transported the dog to the veterinary clinic on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
An animal rescue group that provides food and medical care for pets whose owners are struggling said it is seeing a sharp increase in need since COVID-19.
The Patchogue-based nonprofit Almost Home Animal Rescue has a community outreach program called Training Wheels, where volunteers go into economically distressed communities to help owners with food and medical care for their pets. The group has seen a more than 20% increase in the need for dog and cat food since the pandemic started, said Ashley Buroker, manager for the rescue.
"We’re really getting inundated with calls from pet owners who are unable to feed their pets or provide medical care, due to the pandemic," Buroker said. "We’re seeing a lot of people struggling financially."
More to know
New York State’s new sick-leave law will provide more protections for workers at mom-and-pop businesses and for victims of domestic violence, even if they are part-time employees.
Long Island's county executives highlighted the struggles of military veterans with mental health and called for more federal funding after a recent report showed veteran suicides increased over the last year.
Stony Brook is planning to play an eight-game football schedule with a season opener on or around Feb. 20, 2021.
New York City Kindergarten through eighth grade public school buildings reopened Tuesday for in-person learning, while the rest of the system will reopen Thursday.
The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it planned to lay off 28,000 workers in its parks division in California and Florida.
The Titans-Steelers game originally scheduled for Sunday has been pushed back to either Monday or Tuesday due to positive COVID-19 cases on the Titans’ roster.
News for you
Friends hold up steins at the Plattduetsche Park Beer Hall and Garden in Franklin Square on Sept. 20. Credit: Linda Rosier
How to (safely) celebrate Oktoberfest this fall. Many Oktoberfest celebrations have been canceled, but a few are still happening, at least in an altered form. Here are places on Long Island where you can still celebrate in person, or virtually.
The haunted houses open for the season. The Halloween season is arriving, and some are ready to scare. Remember: Masks are a must, and each venue has been rearranged for safety and social distancing. Here's a guide to what you can expect at haunted houses around LI.
'Saturday Night Live' returns with an in-studio audience. It's coming back this weekend for its Season 46 premiere. Guests will be required to follow COVID-19 protocol, such as taking a test, getting a temperature check and wearing a face covering. Find out more.
Maroni Cuisine now has private dining. Since it opened in the spring of 2019, Maroni Cuisine’s Southold satellite has been navigating the aftermath of the chef-founder's death and the pandemic regulations. Now you can dine there privately. Get the details.
Plus: It can be hard to find the right mobile apps for children to use, especially in the era of virtual learning. But these apps are endorsed as "teacher approved" by the Google Play Store (and are available for iOS).
Sign up for text messages to get the most important coronavirus news and information.
Commentary
Americans are more willing to trade off rights and freedoms to protect public health than the protests might suggest. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto/nadia_bormotova
Survey: Americans will give up liberties to fight COVID-19. Rebecca Sanders and Jack Mewhirter write for The Washington Post: Since the coronavirus pandemic began expanding in March, Americans have been battling over government measures to slow the virus's spread, including business and school closures, limits on public gatherings and mask requirements.
Opponents of these efforts have aggressively confronted lawmakers, harassed public health officials, flouted public health orders and litigated to reverse policies they claim restrict constitutional rights and freedoms.
President Donald Trump has endorsed their calls for reopening, accusing Democrats, the news media and state officials of exaggerating the coronavirus' risks. Recently, Attorney General William P. Barr echoed shutdown protesters by comparing stay-at-home orders to slavery, calling them the "greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history."
The loudest voices always draw attention. But do shutdown protests represent the beliefs of the American people? To answer this question, we surveyed more than 12,000 Americans, asking whether the government should have the power to enact policies that restrict rights and freedoms to protect public health during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more about the research.
