As of December 30, the latest date for which figures were available, the Shelter Island COVID-19 case count was at 26. A new case reported here was the fifth in the Shelter Island Heights ZIP code since the start of December. During that time three cases were added to the official tally in the 11964 ZIP code.
From June to October, the case count remained at nine. Since mid-October, 17 cases have been officially reported here, part of a countywide resurgence.
But local officials say they know of another dozen or so cases that were not included in the state’s reporting. That’s due in part to a problem with a state case recording system that requires a street address. On Shelter Island, residents rely on PO Boxes. And, some cases may have been reported to the patients’ off-Island home addresses, even though they were staying here at the time.
The rate of infection here is significantly lower than what’s reported elsewhere in Suffolk County, just 9.31 cases per thousand residents. Next is East Hampton with 36.71 cases per thousand residents. Leading the 10 towns in case density is Islip with 74.97 cases per thousand residents.
Alarmingly, the positivity rate in Suffolk County. has spiked sharply, rising to 12.8 percent on December 29. It was down to 10.5 percent on December 30, but that’s double what it was at the start of the month.
COVID-19 numbers for Suffolk County
The data below are from December 30:
COVID-19 Testing
- 19,194 COVID-19 tests were administered
- 2,016 new cases were reported
- 96,057 total cases have been reported since March
- 4.9% of those tested since March have been confirmed positive for COVID-19
- 9.7 tested positive on Long Island yesterday; 8.0% positive on a 7-day average
- 10.5% tested positive in Suffolk County yesterday; 8.9% positive on a 7-day average
Antibody Testing
- 32,519 individuals in Suffolk County not previously tested for COVID-19 tested positive for antibodies
- 309,598 in total have been tested for antibodies
Fatalities
- 13 fatalities in the previous 24 hours
- 2,299 total fatalities countywide
Hospitalization
- 733 individuals were hospitalized, an increase of 33 in 24 hours
- 79 were new admissions
- 106 patients were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), an increase of 9 in 24 hours
- 56 patients were in the ICU and intubated
Hospital Capacity
- 3,237 hospital beds, 675 (21 percent) available
- 430 ICU beds, 109 (25 percent) available
Source: Suffolk County COVID-19 Tracker. See live updates at dashboards.suffolkcountyny.gov.
