The number of people who tested positive for coronavirus on Long Island increased to 34 on Wednesday, including 28 cases in Nassau County — one of whom is in critical condition — and six in Suffolk County, officials said.
Update: Long Island Coronavirus Cases Rise To 61
The Nassau cases include 20 in the Town of Hempstead, three in the Town of Oyster Bay, and two in the Town of North Hempstead. The Suffolk cases include three Town of Brookhaven residents, a Town of Southold resident, and a man in his 80s in isolation at St. Catherine’s Hospital.
“It is believed that all of the cases here involve community transmission,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone told reporters Wednesday in Hauppauge. “We expect that number to continue to rise.”
The development came as the number of cases in New York State reached 212 and cases nationwide topped 1,000, including 31 deaths. The new LI total does not include an Uber driver from Queens who New York City officials said had driven around LI. The news came the same day as the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
“The more we test … the more cases we will have,” Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said, urging the public to stay calm and practice good hygiene. “Panic and stress do not solve our problems.”
Curran said Nassau also has 79 people in precautionary quarantine, 153 in mandatory quarantine, and 10 tests pending.
Bellone said Suffolk also has eight individuals in mandatory quarantine, including one of the confirmed cases. The other seven are people who came in contact with the confirmed patients. Suffolk also has 72 individuals who recently traveled overseas under precautionary quarantine, although all have been screened and none are symptomatic.
Officials reminded the public to wash their hands thoroughly, use hand sanitizer, and stay home from work and contact a healthcare provider when sick. They also urged seniors and people with compromised immune systems to avoid crowds.
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