Coronavirus: Rockville Centre Announces Closures Of Buildings

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — Rockille Centre Mayor Francis X. Murray announced today that the village will be closing three of its large institutions starting Monday as a step to stop the spread of the new coronavirus and protect residents.

Though no cases have been positively tied to Rockville Centre yet, the mayor said the village was taking the steps out of "an abundance of caution." Effective March 16, the village will be closing the Sandel Senior Center, the John A. Anderson Recreation Center and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center. They will remain closed for two weeks.

Murray said the village is also in talks with the St. Patrick's Parade committee "discussing the tough decision about the upcoming parade." There's no word yet on whether it is canceled. Murray said the village will make a decision soon.

"We will reevaluate the rapidly evolving situation at the end of two weeks," Murray wrote in a letter to the community. "In the coming days, we will also be determining the future of paid programs that have been affected by the closures."

Beyond the two week period, the Sandel Senior Center's annual Monte Carlo fundraiser — the biggest fundraiser of the year for the senior center — is being postponed. It was originally scheduled for May 1. There's no word yet on when it will take place.

"This message is not meant to cause panic or alarm, but we do want to make sure we make the safest decisions possible to protect our residents and employees while maintaining service to our community," Murray wrote. "I am confident that as a community, we will weather these challenging times together as we always do."

Follow all the coronavirus updates in New York. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

Nassau County continues to have the highest number of cases on Long Island with 41. One of those patients is in serious condition and 10 people are currently hospitalized, county officials said at a news conference Thursday. One of the patients in Nassau County is an 81-year-old woman who was living at The Bristal at North Hills, an assisted living community. Officials said she is hospitalized and not the patient in critical condition.

At least 472 people were in mandatory or precautionary quarantine in Nassau County and at least 16 were in mandatory quarantine in Suffolk, which is up to 20 confirmed cases of the virus. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone declared a state of emergency in the county and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran declared the virus an imminent threat to public health. Both took the measure to help authorize more spending to combat the virus.

More on the coronavirus

• Coronavirus United States: Updates For Thursday, March 12
• Coronavirus On Long Island: 46 Cases, Hundreds In Quarantine