One hundred and six people tested positive for coronavirus on Long Island as of Saturday as the pandemic caused its first fatality in New York State, officials said.
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The number of cases in Nassau County rose to 70 and another 244 people are in mandatory quarantine, county officials said. Suffolk’s cases rose to 37, including 104 in mandatory quarantine. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the first coronavirus fatality in the state was an 82-year-old New York City woman who had emphysema.
“If you are in quarantine, you are asked to stay in quarantine,” Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said. “Containment is the key to prev this from spreading. Community spread is the biggest danger right now.”
New York State cases reportedly increased to 524, 20 percent of whom are hospitalized, although Cuomo has repeatedly said that the number is likely higher than reality due to limited testing capacity, which is due to increase next week. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday and the number of cases nationwide topped 2,000, including at least 50 deaths.
Curran didn’t give a breakdown of the towns where the coronavirus patients live Saturday, although the majority have been in the Town of Hempstead. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said there are 14 in the Town of Southold, seven in the Town of Brookhaven, six in the Town of Huntington, four in the Town of Babylon, three in the Town of Smithtown, two in the Town of Islip, and one in the Town of East Hampton.
Also Saturday, the governor said Jones Beach State Park is being considered as a possible location for a drive-through coronavirus testing site. Cuomo has said he’s keeping a close eye on the hospitalization rate, but the Nassau County Executive sought to allay fears locally.
“I am confident that we have the capacity to deal with this,” said Curran, noting that the county has 11 hospitals.
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