Nassau Coronavirus: 17 Dead At Nursing Home, Cases Hit 20,000

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — Cases of the new coronavirus continue to soar in Nassau County and surpassed 20,000 Thursday. The death toll continues to rise, with more than a dozen residents of a nursing home succumbing to the virus.

Due to the soaring coronavirus cases, the county is now getting case and death numbers from the state. On Wednesday, New York saw the highest single-day jump in deaths, with 799 — the third day in a row deaths grew.

As of Thursday, there were 20,140 positive cases in Nassau County — an overnight jump of 1,592. There were 633 Nassau County residents who have died from the virus, Curran said.

Among the deaths are 17 residents of the A. Holly Patterson Nursing Home in East Meadow, which is managed by Nassau University Medical Center. A nurse's aid at the facility, who Curran said had an underlying health condition, also died from the virus. Many more residents of the facility have the virus, Curran said. According to Newsday, 24 other residents have tested positive.

"It's heartbreaking to think of our seniors passing away alone, without their families by their sides," Curran said.

Despite the increase in cases and deaths, Curran said there may be a ray of hope for county residents: For the fourth day in a row, the number of new patients admitted to Nassau County hospitals was lower than those discharged. There were 72 new hospitalizations overnight and 232 discharges, Curran said.

"That's very good news," Curran said on Wednesday. "Three days in a row shows that we're approaching or are at a plateau."

If the current numbers hold, Curran said that Nassau hospitals have enough equipment to support their patients. The hospitals are lacking gowns, she said.

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Curran's cautious optimism was echoed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said at his daily press briefing Wednesday that New York's social distancing rules seemed to be working. New coronavirus patients admitted to hospitals across the state decreased, which Cuomo attributes to the strict social distancing that residents are following.

However, he warned that the good news doesn't mean those guidelines will be lifted any time soon. If people stop social distancing now, it could lead to a second wave of infections.

"It's not a time to get complacent," Cuomo said. "It's not a time to do anything other than what we're doing."

On Thursday, Cuomo reminded residents that the new policies to keep people safe have not been in place for very long, regardless of how it feels.

"It's been 18 days since we closed down New York," he said. "I know it feels like a lifetime. It's been 39 days since the first COVID case in New York. And 80 days since first COVID case in the United States. It's been an intense, life-changing 80 days."

Cuomo also warned residents that deaths will continue to increase even as hospitalizations drops. The reason, he said, is because a patient can be on a ventilator for two or three weeks with the virus. And the longer they're on a ventilator, the less likely they are to come off of it.

The best way to stop the spread of the virus, Cuomo said, is to maintain social distancing, despite how hard it may be.

"You stay at home and you save a life," he said. "Period."