By Jennifer Corr
As New York state saw 866 new positive cases of Covid-19 on Sept. 26, Glen Cove also experienced an increase. Ten new cases were reported in the city according to data collected by Newsday.
Citing data from the Nassau County Department of Information Technology, Glen Cove has had 1,015 positive cases from the beginning of the pandemic until Sept. 29.
Glen Cove resident Charlotte Y. Washington, the mother of a Glen Cove High School sophomore, said she and her fiancé Lorin Roberts, a United States Air Force veteran, are afraid of catching the virus again.
“My fiancé is still recovering from complications from Covid-19 since March,” she said. “We are very paranoid to go anywhere without catching it again because next time around I feel we won’t survive it.”
Washington is looking forward to the day that life can return to normal once again in the city and the state so that she and her family will feel safe. But to get to that day, Glen Cove Mayor Tim Tenke said, everyone must follow health guidelines.
“Glen Cove residents must continue to remain vigilant with the proven guidelines to reduce the spread of Covid-19 — facial coverings and social distancing,” Tenke said.
In late August, during a 7-day period the city had just one Covid-19 case. And at that time, Glen Cove Hospital had not had to check in a Covid-19 patient in over a month. That is no longer the case.
“We have had a couple of cases [in the hospital] but we have not seen a rise in the number of Covid cases,” said Bradley M. Sherman, M.D., medical director of Glen Cove Hospital,
In the past, GCH, which is part of the Northwell Health system, was under siege by Covid-19. In early May alone, most of its patients tested positive for the coronavirus.
But now, Glen Cove Hospital has been able to shut down units that were caring for patients from the North Shore community and patients from other hospitals that Kerri Ann Scanlon, the executive director of Glen Cove Hospital, said were “under siege,” like North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Forest Hills.
“We’re preparing, God forbid, we have a second round in the fall,” Scanlon said. “But we know so much more about what we can do to prevent the spread — masks, six feet social distance, wash your hands, Purell gel. The basics really matter.”
Like Tenke, Sherman is asking residents to remain vigilant when it comes to protecting themselves and others from the virus. “I think the way to protect everybody is really to make sure that everybody wears the masks, especially when they’re out in public,” he said, “and to keep the six foot distance as best people can because that will really help to decrease these numbers.”
And Sherman also wants to remind the public that the hospital is safe. “Patients that we suspect may have Covid or we’re ruling them out, we put them in a separate area,” he explained.
As for the nearby Glen Cove City School District, data from the New York State Covid-19 Report Card indicates that there has been one Glen Cove High School student, one service provider at Eugene J Gribbin Elementary School and a staff member at Deasy School that has tested positive for Covid-19. But pursuant to Nassau County Department of Health, there is no need for closure.
“We are extremely careful and are doing all we can to ensure the health and safety of our children and staff,” Glen Cove City School District Superintendent Dr. Maria Rianna said.
Protocols include mask wearing during in-person school days, a hybrid model of alternating between in-person and remote learning and sanitizing the premise often. Rianna also stated that the situation is being closely monitored and that anyone who had close contact with those who tested positive has been contacted by the district or the Nassau County Department of Health. If one hasn’t been contacted, there is nothing more that they have to do, Rianna said.
For now, Washington said, she will continue to have her daughter attend school from home, an option made available for all students who are not comfortable with in-person learning.
Miriam Norensburg, the mother of a Glen Cove City School District kindergartner, said she had to enroll her son in private school because the hybrid model did not work with her family’s current circumstances.
“I am currently going through some medical issues and I am not in the position to be able to have him home and teach him appropriately for more than half of each week,” Norensburg said.
She said she wishes that the district had taken working parents as well as single parents into consideration when drafting this year’s plans. “I felt like they could have come up with some sort of a plan to make it work for the lower grades,” she said. “I do not understand how they honestly expect these children to stay up to grade level going to school two days a week.”
However, she understands that not all families feel safe with in-person learning. “Not everyone has the same home situation and I don’t think anyone should be forced to send their kids back if they have immunocompromised people living in the home or are otherwise concerned for their family,” she said. “At the same time, I feel that options should be available for those who do want to send their kids back.”
Photo taken by Jennifer Corr
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