28 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • MARCH 2021
PANDEMIC MARKS 1 YEAR ON LI
Meanwhile, local lawmakers continued to
urge state leaders to make sure residents
get their fair share moving forward.
“While we are still a ways away from the
1 percent positivity rate we were hovering
around for months, our seven-day
rolling average continues to trend steadily
downward,” Suffolk County Executive
Steve Bellone said. “We have made a lot
of progress over the last few weeks, and
if we keep practicing the commonsense
safety measures that work, we can keep
the decline going until we crush this
virus once and for all.”
The United States on Feb. 22 crossed the
staggering milestone of 500,000 Covid-19
deaths just over a year to the day since
the coronavirus pandemic claimed its
first known U.S. victims in Santa Clara
County, Calif. About 20 percent of
total global coronavirus deaths have occurred
in the United States, an outsized
figure given that the nation accounts for
just 4 percent of the world’s population.
Nassau recorded its first fatal case of
the coronavirus on St. Patrick’s Day,
the same day that New York State
temporarily banned dining at all restaurants
statewide and ordered eateries
operate as takeout only. It wasn’t until
June that either county saw a day go by
without a single Covid-19 death.
Aside from the widespread telecommuting,
remote learning, mask-wearing, and
other societal shifts in response to the
pandemic locally and beyond, one of the
most headline-grabbing sagas over the
past year has been that of Gov. Andrew
Cuomo. The governor had become a national
figure overnight thanks to his daily
news briefings that earned him an Emmy
Award. Nowadays, critics are calling on
state lawmakers to revoke the governor’s
emergency powers granted at the start
of the coronavirus pandemic after it was
recently revealed that Cuomo’s office
underreported the statewide nursing
home death toll. Cuomo has come under
investigation for the underreporting. A
government watchdog group sued the
state for records documenting the deaths,
prompting a court to order the state to
finally release the information nearly a
year after the pandemic began.
Similarly controversial has been the
vaccine rollout, with officials critical of
the lack of supply despite a Long Island
nurse being the first person in America
to get the shot. So far, those eligible to
get vaccinated are in groups 1a and 1b,
which includes teachers, first responders,
public transit workers, public-facing grocery
store workers, people in homeless
shelters, anyone older than age 65, and
people with certain comorbidities. But
supply bottlenecks continue to cause long
delays for members of the public seeking
to secure appointments. It is expected to
take until the end of the year before the
population is likely to reach herd immunity,
or 80-plus percent inoculation.
Adding to public concerns are new more
contagious strains popping up in the region.
As of press time, on LI there were
two cases of the South African variant,
23 cases of the UK strain, and a new
strain known as B.1.526 first identified in
samples collected in New York in November,
and by mid-February represented
about 12 percent of cases, researchers at
Columbia University Vagelos College of
Physicians and Surgeon said on Feb. 24.
The Columbia researchers said an analysis
of publicly available databases did not
show a high prevalence of coronavirus
variants recently identified in South
Africa and Brazil in case samples from
New York City and surrounding areas.
“Instead we found high numbers of this
homegrown lineage,” Dr. Anne-Catrin
Uhlemann, assistant professor in the division
of infectious diseases at Columbia
University’s College of Physicians and
Surgeons, said in a statement.
-With Reuters
PRESS HEALTH
continued from page 27
COVID-19 BY THE NUMBERS
LI COVID-19 CASE TOTAL: 306,277
SUFFOLK CASES: 160,292
NASSAU CASES: 145,985
NY CASES: 1,606,520
US CASES: 28,396,869
CASES WORLDWIDE: 112,856,868
LI DEATHS: 5,950
SUFFOLK DEATHS: 3,054
NASSAU DEATHS: 2,896
NY DEATHS: 38,227
US DEATHS: 507,803
GLOBAL DEATHS: 2,503,735
Source: New York State Department
of Health and Johns Hopkins University
data as of Feb. 25.
At ProHEALTH Dental, we care about
your overall HEALTH.
A multispecialty dental practice providing care for the entire family.
GENERAL DENTISTRY PEDIATRICS ORTHODONTICS ENDODONTICS PERIODONTICS IMPLANTS ORAL SURGERY COSMETIC PROSTHODONTICS SLEEP
Convenient Hours • Most Insurances Accepted. 855-PHD-CARE/718-DENTIST
Astoria • Bay Shore• Corona• Howard Beach www.phdental.com
Huntington•Lake Success• Long Island City
Oceanside • White Plains
No Insurance? We Have A Solution!
ProHEALTH DENTAL
VIP PROGRAM
This program covers all your preventative care &
provides significant SAVINGS on all other dental care.
/www.phdental.com
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
/www.phdental.com
