Two more Long Islanders died of the coronavirus on Friday — one each in Suffolk and Nassau counties — the pace of daily deaths for months on the Island, according to the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Four Long Islanders died on Thursday and nine on Wednesday — still far fewer than at the peak of the pandemic in spring 2020, when the death toll was in the double digits every day.
Based on state data submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been at least 9,764 Long Island deaths from the virus — 5,055 in Nassau and 4,709 in Suffolk. This total is based on what is listed on death certificates, which is broader than the count publicized during the tenure of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, when, for example, only those with a positive test would be counted.
The Island’s infection rate, averaged over seven days, was 2.75%, according to Hochul’s office, which sends out a daily update about the status of the pandemic in New York State.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s likely successor, Eric Adams, said Friday on WCBS that he would extend to students the city’s vaccination mandate for the public schools.
De Blasio has said he opposed requiring schoolchildren to be vaccinated or be kept out of school — on the grounds that doing so would mean too many wouldn’t get an education, through no fault of their own.
But on Friday Adams said: “”This is a city and country where we do vaccinate. I was vaccinated for smallpox, for mumps, measles and so many others. We already have a system in place that states before you start school, you receive your vaccination,” Adams said. “It is to protect the child and the student population. We saw, historically, what happens when you have an outbreak of a certain type of illness that we can prevent … so I say yes, if it is FDA approved, we should also mandate it, as we mandate with other vaccinations.”
Also Friday, de Blasio said on WNYC’s “Brian Lehrer Show”: “Our kids need to be in school and school has been incredibly safe. So, I’ve said I’m not ready, nor is the chancellor to exclude children who are unvaccinated because their parent won’t let them be vaccinated. That’s the reality. The child doesn’t get to decide, the parents have to give consent.”
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