Uptick in Five Towns Covid-19 cases has officials concerned

Updated Aug. 23 at 8:10 a.m.

New Covid-19 cases has slowed over the past few weeks nationwide, however the country is still recording more than twice the number than in June, and in the Five Towns, Cedarhurst and Lawrence have the highest new case totals in all of Nassau County, according to the county health commissioner. 

After learning of this, Village of Lawrence Mayor Alex Edelman sent an email to residents.  “While, to date, no resident has been reported as seriously ill, it behooves each of us to remain vigilant and continue to wear masks and practice social distancing,” Edelman said. “Younger people and teens are among the ill and of course, the elderly and vulnerable remain at risk. We urge you to take precautions and care for yourself and others for the benefit of all.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, Woodmere was one of the largest county hotspots. Woodmere resident Dr. Aaron Glatt, the chairman of the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in Oceanside also put out a statement

A portion of it reads: “The most common problem I am asked to help with, but cannot easily answer, is what to do for the person with an unclear exposure — usually when the parties were not wearing a mask. I am unable to provide guidance in such situations, and sadly, the default position is to quarantine for 14 days.”

The spike is attributed to not enough people adhering to the social distancing mandates, holding larger than allowed gathering and not wearing masks. Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder has told community leaders that should someone see large groups gathering they should call 911, and the county fire marshal and police will respond.

With schools set to reopen next month Glatt noted that more is learned every day concerning children and Covid-19. “While there are fewer cases of Covid-19 in children age 0 to 17 years compared to adults, the number and rate of cases in children in the United States have been steadily increasing,” Glatt stated. “The incubation period is the same for children as adults, two to 14 days with an average of six days.”

The signs or symptoms of Covid-19 in children are abdominal pain, cough, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, headache, nasal congestion, poor appetite or poor feeding,  nausea or vomiting, new loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath and sore throat.  

With all the misinformation regarding mask wearing, Glatt stated that the latest data supports wearing either a standard three-ply surgical mask or a three-ply cotton face covering as the best options.

“While data are limited, these appear superior to single or double-ply cloth face coverings, and are certainly better than a bandanna, “gaiters” or scarfs covering the mouth and nose, which I do not recommend that people use,” he said. “N95 or KN95 masks are usually worn only by health care workers in close proximity to selected patients with Covid-19. They require fit testing to be worn properly.”

Lawrence-based Achiezer, which has done some heavy lifting in the Five Towns since the coronavirus pandemic began also took note of the uptick. “While caution must be used when using terms such as ‘outbreak,’ or ‘surge’ etc., we also must acknowledge and understand that the spread of active Covid-19 cases within our community is very much real and something we need to be very vigilant of,” officials stated in an email update, adding that 99 percent of the cases are not critical or resulted in serious illness or hospitalization, but some have serious and persistent symptoms.