Massapequa Park Designated Yellow Zone: What It Means For You

MASSAPEQUA PARK, NY — On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared that Massapequa Park would become a yellow zone due to a high infection rate for the coronavirus in the village. This will mean more restrictions on life in the village, but not a full shutdown like what was experienced in the spring.

Massapequa Park was designated a yellow zone after having a seven-day rolling average of positive cases of more than 3 percent. The yellow zone is a precautionary zone designed to stop the area from becoming a full-blown micro-cluster. The village currently has an infection rate of 3.9 percent, according to the state.

Daniel Pearl, the mayor of Massapequa Park, said the village received no notification from the state before the Yellow Zone designation was applied, but he did hear from Nassau County Executive Laura Curran on Sunday that it could be coming.

"What we're doing right now, we're encouraging residents throughout the village to take all the proper safety precautions," said Pearl. "We're constantly reminding our residents to be safe."

As a yellow zone, businesses in Massapequa Park can remain open with no restrictions. Restaurants can still serve food both indoors and outdoors, but tables are capped at four people.

Gatherings, which experts have said has been the main driver of infections as of late, are limited to 25 people in non-residential settings and 10 people in residential gatherings.

Houses of worship have to operate at half capacity.

Schools will also remain open in the yellow zone. However, the district will have to test 20 percent of the in-person students and faculty weekly. This would affect multiple schools in the Massapequa School District: McKenna Elementary School and East Lake Elementary School are both located in Massapequa Park, as is the Nassau BOCES Carman Road School.

"Our highest priority continues to be the health and well-being of our students, staff and community," said Lucille F. Iconis, superintendent of Massapequa schools. "The district is working with our local government officials and our district physician to develop a protocol to best meet the governor’s mandatory testing requirements for schools located in a designated Yellow Zone."

The restrictions on Massapequa Park will be reviewed after 14 days. If the infection rate has decreased, the restrictions will be lifted. If not, the area could be designated an Orange or Red zone, which comes with even harsher restrictions.

All of Nassau County has seen a spike in coronavirus cases in the last month. Infections have gone from a few dozen new cases a day in October to hundreds a day in November. There have been 6,412 new cases confirmed as of Nov. 21 in Nassau County, and 24 new deaths in the same period. Since March, there have been 56,716 cases and 2,240 deaths.