Nassau officials addressed the COVID-19 crisis, it’s economic impact on the community and the recent protests in the county over the past few days during a press conference Friday.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran says the fifth night of protests in response to the death of George Floyd were peaceful across the county.

A total of 27 protests have taken place in the county since the start, and officials say there have been no arrests and no one hurt.

The largest protest took place in the Merrick-Bellmore area with about 6,000 people. Curran says communication on county strategy on keeping residents and businesses safe was carried out.

“To the peaceful protesters, I say thank you. To the police officers who have remained calm, thank you,” says Curran.

Curran addressed outside instigators, where there were reports of construction debris along protest routes. Officials say there is no indication that it was put there by the protesters.

“Please don’t jump to conclusion based on what you see on social media,” says Curran.

Police officials say there are several more protests expected today, and they will respond the same way they have the past few days.

On COVID-19, officials hospitalizations continue to decline with 201 hospitalizations reported as of Thursday.

A total of 5,000 tests were done in one day – of those 69 tested positive, which equates to 1.3%.

“The percentage of positive cases have been consistently under 2% for more than a week,” says Curran.
Lastly, Nassau officials say Long Island is still struggling from the financial impact of COVID-19.

A total of 350,000 Long Islanders are currently on unemployment and 70% of businesses surveyed say the impact of the virus is worse than expected.

 

Protests continue across Long Island in response to death of George Floyd