COVID-19 continues to spread on Shelter Island, where new cases on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day brought the official count to 25 since the pandemic began in March. Meanwhile, the cumulative count in Suffolk County exceeded 90,000.
The rate of cases per thousand residents here — 8.95 — remains far lower than elsewhere in the county or on the East End, where it ranges from 34.81 in East Hampton to 48.84 in Riverhead. The highest is in Islip where 70.98 cases per thousand residents have been reported since March.
The official number of cases here had stood at nine since June when in October the virus began spreading locally again. What’s more, local officials say they know of as many as a dozen more cases since October that aren’t reflected in the official reporting.
In some, officials say they’ve heard from people who have a primary residence elsewhere but were living on Shelter Island when they tested positive. A portion of the difference is believed to be due partly to a flaw in the data recording system at the state level that rejects PO boxes as addresses. Shelter Island residents rely on PO boxes for mail delivery. Some of the ‘missing’ cases may be among the more than 4,000 now reported countywide as Township Unknown.
Countywide figures
Countywide, 885 new cases were reported on December 26. That brings the cumulative count in Suffolk County to 90,142 since March. The death toll, which includes two Island residents who died in the spring, rose to 2,251, including eight in the previous 24 hours.
The positivity rate remains high; 7.0 percent of those tested in Suffolk County returned a positive result; the 7-day rolling average was 7.2 percent. This is up from 3.1 percent a month ago.
In all, 647 people were in hospitals throughout Suffolk County on Friday, with 59 new admissions in 24 hours.
Hospitals have expanded capacity, adding more than 200 beds since the beginning of the month. Of the 3,199 beds, about 946 (30 percent) were available Saturday. While the county does not break out reporting by the hospital, Town officials say hospitals on the East End are now accepting patients from the western part of the county, where case counts are much higher.
Countywide, 103 patients required treatment in an intensive care unit on Saturday, five more than the day before. Of Suffolk County’s 435 ICU beds, 117 were available, or about 27 percent. Hospitals have expanded ICU capacity by more than 50 beds since early December under the governor’s orders.
Reporting local cases
If you have questions or concerns about COVID-19, contact Suffolk County’s emergency hotline by dialing 311. You can also check the Town website, which has helpful links including local testing sites.
If you are residing on Shelter Island and test positive for COVID-19, Town officials ask that you report the information in confidence to the local police department using the non-emergency number, 631-749-0600. The information is useful in planning for emergency responses that may be required.
Shelter Island School, now closed for the holiday break, has reported three instances of positive COVID-19 tests this month — two staff members and one student. In each instance, the school reported the news to the school community by phone and email and posted information on its Facebook page.
The school, one of just two Pre-K to 12 districts in Suffolk County to remain open for full-time in-person learning this fall, shifted to remote learning for one day after the Thanksgiving break when a staff member reported receiving a positive test the evening before school was to reopen.
