Another Long Island school closes after positive COVID-19 test, officials say

This story was reported by Michael Gormley, Bart Jones, John Valenti and Olivia Winslow. It was written by Jones.

Another school joined Long Island’s coronavirus COVID-19 closure list Monday, with the Harborfields Central School District announcing its high school students will shift to “full remote learning” on Monday and Tuesday — after officials were alerted to “a positive case of COVID-19.”

The latest school closing is part of measures to temporarily halt in-person instruction at scattered districts throughout Long Island where students and staff have tested positive in the first few weeks of classes, though there has been no sharp increase in COVID-19 spread in either the region or the state.

That continued with news Monday that the positivity rate for new cases remained low in the state and one patient died Sunday of causes related to COVID-19 — the lowest death toll reported “since this began,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said during a telephonic briefing from Albany.

He praised “the spirit of community, the spirit of unity” of New Yorkers that he said “literally has saved thousands of lives” in the state.

” … We won’t stop until that number is zero,” for the death toll, Cuomo added, saying that “it’s really an extraordinary accomplishment that New Yorkers have achieved” relative to other states and parts of the world, where the virus has resurfaced after initial waves.

From approximately 58,000 test results counted statewide on Sunday, 573 people, or 0.98%, tested positive, Cuomo said Monday.

Still, of 18 businesses were cited over the weekend for violating state laws aimed at curbing spread of the coronavirus, 13 were on Long Island, Cuomo said. They included eight in Nassau County and five in Suffolk County.

“Overall the compliance has gotten much better,” Cuomo said, though there remain some “bad apples.”

He added that “the bars, colleges, have been presenting an issue for us.”

State Liquor Authority agents and State Police inspected 4,000 establishments over the weekend, he said.

The number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 from Sunday was 41 in Nassau County, 48 in Suffolk County, and 260 in New York City, Cuomo said. The positive infection level was 0.9% on Long Island and 1.0% in New York City.

More COVID-19 cases in schools

The Harborfields announcement was made via Twitter on the official district account late Sunday. It was not immediately clear if the positive test involved a student, a teacher or some other staff member. The Tweet said only the decision was made “in conjunction” with the Suffolk County Department of Health and that staff and students would be asked to follow their schedules for live remote learning for each class.

A receptionist in the office of Harborfields Superintendent Francesco Ianni said he had no comment Monday afternoon.

A staff member at Eastport-South Manor Junior-Senior High School tested positive for COVID-19, district officials said in a letter to parents on Sunday, but the school will not be shut down Monday because the employee is not assigned to a classroom and is not in regular prolonged contact with students.

Contact tracing through the Suffolk County Department of Health has begun and the employee is quarantining, the district said.

Smithtown Central School District Superintendent Mark Secaur announced that a student at Smithtown High School West has tested positive — but did not announce any building closures in the district as a result. Secaur said the student had last been in the building on Sept. 11 and wrote that the district was sharing the information with parents “as part of our ongoing efforts to keep the community informed of issues of concern,” adding that contact-tracing efforts have been “initiated.”

Islip Public Schools announced Friday that COVID-19 quarantine protocols are now being instituted after a student at Sherwood Elementary School tested positive.

In a letter to parents Superintendent Ellen Semel said the student was last in the elementary school building on Sept. 15.

As a result, the district is asking anyone who had been in contact with the unnamed student to quarantine for 14 days — meaning all involved with the student’s class have been asked not to return to the building until Sept. 30, Semel wrote.

This applies to anyone who rode the bus with the student, Semel wrote.

“As always,” Semel wrote, “the health and safety of our students and staff is our top priority.”

‘Positive momentum’ in reopening

County Executive Laura Curran said Monday that Nassau has continued to maintain a low level of coronavirus infections.

“Thanks to our hard work, Nassau County has kept our positive momentum as we enter the challenging fall months,” she said in a statement. “This has been a remarkable accomplishment, and Nassau residents deserve significant credit. I think we’ve demonstrated that you can reopen in a way that’s safe and smart. However, we know that [what] comes next isn’t guaranteed; some countries that initially succeeded in containing the virus, like Spain and Israel, are now experiencing painful second surges.”

Cuomo on Monday criticized New York City officials for twice pushing back the start date of in-person classes in the hybrid system they have adopted.

“Stability, predictability is very important,” he said. “In other words, parents plan their lives around their children. And if their children are going to be in school, that’s one situation. If your children are not going to be in school, that’s another situation,” he said. Come up with a plan, “then stick to it. The changes are not helpful.”

State courts resuming operations

Meanwhile, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said Monday that the state court system is moving to resume in-person operations in every county, including “nonessential matters,” but said the road to normal caseloads experienced before the COVID-19 outbreak is long and uncertain.

“Notwithstanding the progress that our judges and professional staff are making to resume and gradually expand in-person operations, we recognize that it will be a long time, if ever, before we can return to even a semblance of the in-person density and activity that took place in our courthouses before the pandemic,” DiFiore said in her address to lawyers and judges. “And so, we are working constantly to expand our virtual capacity and improve our virtual operations — now and for the future.”

She said the courts are converting from the Skype for Business video conferencing system to Microsoft Teams. She said the new software will better suit the presentation of documents, as well as open court and private messaging between lawyers and judges.

In addition, pilot programs are underway in courtrooms, including one in Suffolk County retrofitted to ward off spread of the virus.

“We are excited about the prospect of expanding our pilots to New York City in mid- to late October,” DiFiore said.

“As soon as we are comfortable with the safety and efficacy of the civil pilots, the next step will be to conduct our first in-person criminal jury trials in New York City,” she said.

Also on Monday, Cuomo extended the state’s moratorium on coronavirus-related commercial evictions and foreclosures an additional month, until Oct. 20.

The measure extends protections already in place for commercial tenants and mortgagors because of the financial toll the pandemic has taken on business owners, including retail establishments and restaurants, he said.

“The pandemic remains far from over, and we need to continue protecting the business owners supporting their families amid restrictions necessary to protect the public health,” Cuomo said. “That’s why it’s the right decision to extend the eviction ban for commercial tenants another 30 days.”

Check back for updates on this developing story. Sign up to get COVID-19 text alerts.