'Unimaginable.' - County Executive Bellone says 362 Suffolk residents have died from COVID-19
He announced that 39 more residents have died in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 362. There have been 18,602 confirmed cases in the county, but only 10 new hospitalizations in the past day.
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Apr 9, 2020, 5:27 PM
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Updated 1,569 days ago
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County Executive Steve Bellone called the death toll in Suffolk “unimaginable” during his daily briefing on Thursday.
He announced that 39 more residents have died in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 362. There have been 18,602 confirmed cases in the county, but only 10 new hospitalizations in the past day.
Bellone took time out to thank Suffolk County police, saying that crime is at a historical low. He also announced the arrest of an alleged commercial burglar and an alleged “serial arsonist” from earlier in the week. He says criminals should think twice before trying to take advantage of the COVID-19 crisis.
The county executive also said that they are targeting hard-hit communities and urging people to get tested for the virus. He says the language barrier and other reasons are making it difficult to communicate and connect them to useful resources.
Bellone also thanked DS Services of America, which brought water and other beverages to first responders and health care workers. He thanked Onondaga County in upstate New York for sending 22 nurses to Stony Brook University. He called it an “incredible act of generosity.”
Updates from County Executive Steve Bellone's COVID-19 briefing
- Bellone visited the Emergency Operations Center, thanked first responders for combating COVID-19.
- 249,000 pieces of PPE from federal government were distributed to front-line agencies. More supplies will be distributed today.
- Bellone: Crime in Suffolk County is at historically low levels. He says commercial burglaries were thwarted and arrests were made on Tuesday. A "serial arsonist" was arrested Wednesday.
- Bellone: These cases should serve as a reassurance to the public that law enforcement is "on the job" during pandemic.
- Bellone says there are 18,602 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Suffolk County.
- Hospital capacity continues to rise. "We are up to 3,365 beds." He says there 750 ICU beds. He says there are 505 hospital beds, 102 ICU beds available in the county.
- "Over the last 24 hours, we have seen an additional 39 people die from the COVID-19 virus. That number is up to 362 in this county."
- Bellone says the message of social distancing needs to get through to young people. County is launching the "Peer to Peer COVID Challenge."
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