Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone provided his Tuesday COVID-19 update, where he anticipated Phase 2 beginning tomorrow and provided more thoughts about area protests.

- Bellone speaks about the excitement over phase 2 Wednesday - says he's never seen so many people so happy to get a haircut, get a meal, go to the salon and more.
- Bellone references Suffolk protests, stresses again that they've been peaceful. Speaks about wanting more transparency on 50-A.
- Commends Suffolk police for their compassion, professionalism. 'We haven't seen the clashes we've seen in other parts of the state.'
- Bellone says calls for defunding the police "do not make any sense," talks about what county police provide and do for residents. Adds crime 'has not gone away.'
- Says structural racism needs to be tackled in law enforcement, housing, education.
- Bellone says he has no additional information about Smithtown incident that was spoken about yesterday - police say it has been moved to major cases.
NUMBERS
- 'In line with what we've been seeing' - 49 new COVID-19 cases.
- Hospitalizations decrease by 3 - total of 155.
- ICU bed occupants fall bellow 50.
- Death toll rises by 4, total of 1,939.
- Bellone echoes that it is critical that residents get tested - reminds residents about their hot spot testing sites.

MORE: LIVE BLOG - Coronavirus updates from the tri-state area and beyond 

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