Bellone: Coronavirus cases in county rose by nearly 1,000 in 24 hours; total number of cases is 6,713

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone says there are 6,713 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 53 virus-related deaths.

News 12 Staff

Mar 31, 2020, 5:50 PM

Updated 1,712 days ago

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Bellone: Coronavirus cases in county rose by nearly 1,000 in 24 hours; total number of cases is 6,713
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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone says there are 6,713 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 53 virus-related deaths.
 
BRIEFING NOTES:
- There are now 6,713 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Suffolk. Bellone says the number has increased by nearly 1,000 in 24 hours.
- There are also nine additional deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the total number of fatalities to 53.
- The testing site at Stony Brook University has tested 17,600 people.
- The AFC Urgent Care in Farmingdale will start doing molecular testing for coronavirus, which cuts the time to get results by 15 minutes.
- Bellone says to call ahead for testing, and that they are only testing symptomatic patients.
- Another drive-through facility will open up at ProHealth in Riverhead by appointment only. Testing is not limited to ProHealth primary care patients.
- There are 708 people hospitalized from COVID-19, with 229 patients in ICU.
- Bellone says hospital capacity is increasing with 500 new hospital beds. There are now 2,803 hospital beds, with 598 beds available. There are also 67 ICU beds available.
- He says the county has given out 1.3 million personal protective equipment. It gave out 35,000 face masks and 100,000 in surgical masks Monday.
- Bellone says there has been a drop in crime, likely due to the lack of opportunity to commit crimes as people are being asked to stay home and businesses are closed. He says there has been a 30% reduction in overall crime in the county, with a 100% reduction of felony assaults.
PHOTOS: The impact of coronavirus around the world
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