Some LI businesses not ready to drop COVID-19 safety measures
Some Long Island business owners are still weighing whether or when to make the changes Cuomo heralded on Tuesday as a major reopening of New York State after more than a year of pandemic-related restrictions.
At Standard Pour, a café in Valley Stream, “nothing’s changed since yesterday,” said co-owner Shanelle County. The coffeehouse and restaurant opened during the pandemic in October, and has had limited seating from the beginning, with more seating added as restrictions were loosened over the past few months, County said.
“The COVID restrictions being lifted allows us to fully execute our vision…,” County said. “We didn’t make a decision yet on what we’re going to do going forward. We have plans to fill out our space, but it’s not an overnight decision.”
At Nantuckets restaurant in Port Jefferson, capacity remains at about 75%, said manager Cami Gonzalez.
“We’re not going back to 100%” for the time being, Gonazlez said. “We decided the safety of our customers is more important, so we keep some distance between tables.”
Representatives for one fitness center said it wanted to wait for feedback from its patrons before deciding what to do.
Read more about what other business owners are thinking. And, ICYMI: Here’s more from Cuomo’s announcement about reopening yesterday.
The number of new positives reported today: 24 in Nassau, 34 in Suffolk, 179 in New York City and 349 statewide.
The chart below shows the seven-day average positivity rate each day on Long Island from April to now.
Search a map of new cases and view more charts with the latest local trends in vaccinations, testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
Health experts ‘nervous’ about lifting of restrictions
Some health experts are concerned New York may be reopening too quickly and too soon — but they say doing so during warm weather reduces the risk of a surge, Newsday’s David Olson reports.
“I feel nervous about it,” said Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. “Our biggest shield against this is vaccinations, and we still have a long way to go to get sufficient coverage of vaccines.”
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said he was ending most restrictions because more than 70% of New York adults have received at least one vaccine dose, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But less than 51% of the state’s total population is fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.
A rate of 70% to 80% of all New Yorkers fully vaccinated — roughly at “population immunity,” or herd immunity — would have been a better time to lift restrictions, El-Sadr said.
Low vaccination rates may be linked to college students
The Long Island ZIP codes that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo singled out as among those with the state’s lowest vaccination rates includes student housing at Hofstra University and LIU Post.
Cuomo mentioned Hempstead’s 11549 ZIP code and 11548 as being in the bottom 10% of vaccination rates in the state. The 11549 ZIP code includes student housing at Hofstra and has a vaccination rate of 27% of all adults and children who have received at least one dose, according to state data. There, more than 99% of residents are ages 15 to 24, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
The 11548 ZIP code, with a 34.6% vaccination rate, includes many single-family homes in Greenvale, in addition to LIU Post. The Census Bureau lists more than 40% of the population as ages 15 to 24 — compared with 12.9% for all of Nassau County.
Newsday’s David Olson has more on vaccination rates among students.
How employers can help ease workers’ post-pandemic anxiety
The pandemic changed people’s working lives profoundly, with the sudden shifts to performing work from home amid intensified child care needs and the challenges of caring for sick loved ones. The prolonged experience created new anxiety and stress that employers need to consider as they return workers back to the office, Jamie Herzlich writes in this story for Newsday.
MetLife’s 2021 U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study, conducted mid-pandemic in December and January of employees working remotely as well as on-site, found that 37% reported feeling stressed while working more than half the time; 34% reported feeling burned out and 22% reported feeling depressed.
“Given the perfect storm of mental, emotional, physical, and financial stressors employees faced over the last year — and when you consider those pain points in the context of longer work hours and heightened screen time — it’s really no surprise that our collective mental health has taken a hit,” says Jessica Moser, senior vice president, Group Benefits at MetLife.
More to know
The New York Philharmonic will resume subscription performances in September, following a historic 18-month gap caused by the pandemic, with a schedule of 78 concerts in a season shifted from Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.
Video of two Commack school district events last week shows multiple people unmasked in the Commack High School auditorium, days after Cuomo and the district’s website said indoor school mask requirements remained in place.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and the Nassau County Legislature are hoping to hold a public viewing party for a potential Game 5 of the Islanders’ NHL semifinal series.
“The Book of Mormon” is headed back to Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre on Nov. 5, while the improv show “Freestyle Love Supreme” returns Oct. 7.
News for you
Tips you need for this housing market. Long Island’s housing market is hot, and Newsday Live hosted a virtual event with local housing experts to answer some questions for hopeful buyers. Watch it here and get some tips. Meanwhile, Long Island home sales are soaring and Suffolk home prices crashed through a new record last month, reaching a median $500,000, according to a new report. Don’t forget about our next virtual event on Thursday featuring tips for those trying to sell a home.
Pop the question with a proposal package. A few Long Island businesses are offering wedding proposal packages for the big moment — pay-one-price experiences. Take a look at some available at locations around LI, including one at the Long Island Aquarium.
This week on the Newsday Live Music Series. Founding member of rock group The Go-Go’s, Kathy Valentine, will discuss her life, career and music in an event at 8 p.m. tonight. Register here. And on Thursday, register for this event featuring rock musicians Ron & Russell Mael as they discuss their music and new documentary, “The Sparks Brothers.”
Plus: This business owner spent a year looking for the perfect location to open a medical spa. Then COVID-19 hit, and she eventually opened a spa on wheels. See how she did it.
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Commentary
Anti-mask fury is indefensible. The Newsday Opinion Editorial Board writes: As positivity rates on Long Island decline and vaccination rates increase, there is room for debate on masking in schools.
But there is no need for viciousness, no space for name-calling, no reason for fury. And no excuse for the example anti-mask parents and advocates are providing children about how a civil society disagrees.
Anti-mask protests directed at schools have sprung up on Long Island with fierce debates in Hauppauge, Kings Park, Smithtown and Middle Country. Masking opponents have wielded signs and nasty chants at rallies, hollered at school board meetings, and conducted email and social media campaigns.
Often the tone has been so vile you’d think educators were breaking the law to hurt members of school communities, instead of following the law to protect them. Keep reading.
Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.
