400 Possibly Exposed To Coronavirus At Pleasantville Church

PLEASANTVILLE, NY — Close to 400 people are voluntarily quarantining themselves around Pleasantville after two priests and a staffer at Holy Innocents Church tested positive for coronavirus, Westchester County Executive George Latimer said in a news briefing Friday.

"This is a significant incident that warrants our attention," Latimer said.

SEE: Coronavirus Exposure At Holy Innocents Church in Pleasantville

Anyone who attended any of the following services must quarantine for 14 days from that last visit to the church on Bedford Road. On Friday, health officials added Aug. 29 Masses to the list of services at which people were exposed.

The services are:

• Aug. 24 – Morning Mass
• Aug. 26 – Morning Mass
• Aug. 29 – First Communion Ceremonies and all Masses
• Aug. 30 – All Masses

People who attended any of the services may get tested at a pop-up drive-thru testing site this weekend.

Phelps Hospital will operate the test site from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The hospital is at 701 North Broadway in Sleepy Hollow. Drive toward the Emergency Department and follow signs to the testing tent. Identify yourself as part of the church testing cluster.

Even if your test result is negative, you must still quarantine, said County Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler.

Contacts of contacts, meaning secondary exposed people, are currently not at risk and do not have to quarantine, as required by the New York State Department of Health.

Latimer and Amler reminded listeners at their Friday news briefing that the pandemic in New York began in Westchester connected to well-attended religious events in New Rochelle.

They also reminded people about the 27-case outbreak in June after large high school graduation events and parties in Chappaqua did not follow pandemic protocols.

"Quarantining is not fun, but if you do not quarantine you are risking other people's lives," Latimer said.

The county is working closely with the church, the Archdiocese of New York, the Pleasantville school district, the Mount Pleasant school district and the local government and will continue to update the public as information becomes available, officials said.

Schools Superintendent MaryBeth Alter said district officials began hearing early Thursday from parents as news of the positive tests spread through the village. While the district opens next week in a hybrid format, some children will be learning remotely as they will be quarantined.

"These are very challenging times," she said. "Our hybrid model is built to absorb bumps in the road."

Latimer offered details on the status of the overall outbreak in Westchester: 46 people tested positive yesterday, less than 1 percent. In the county, 550,000 tests have been conducted and 37,152 have been found positive in the past six months. There have been six fatalities in the last 31 days; so far, 1,452 people have died of COVID-19 in Westchester. At the peak of the outbreak in April 50-70 people were dying daily. The number of hospitalizations as of Wednesday was 25. At the outbreak's peak there were 1,200 people hospitalized at a time.

"If we see an increase in the number of active cases, the next most important number is hospitalizations," Latimer said.

SEE ALSO:

• Coronavirus Cases Leap In NY, Most Westchester-Connected
• Officials Beg New Castle Residents To Follow Pandemic Protocols