Glen Cove — ninth highest number of Covid-19 in Nassau County

Data displayed by the Nassau County Department of Information Technology indicates that as of April 23, Glen Cove has 648 confirmed positive cases of Covid-19. This makes it the ninth highest hit community in Nassau County. There are 27,201 people living in Glen Cove as of 2018. 

“We’re still in the midst of this coronavirus epidemic in our area, as well as everywhere else,” said Glen Cove Mayor Timothy Tenke during the April 21 digital pre-council meeting. “There is some hopeful news that has been broadcasted the last couple of days.”

 The news he’s referring to is the decline of hospitalization rates.

On April 24, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that hospitalizations have gone down and that evidence suggests that the state is on the downside of “the curve.” The number of infections has been relatively flat, according to state Department of Health data. On April 17, when 23,309 people were tested across the state, 7,090 tested positive. About a week later, on April 23, when 34,736 people tested, 8,130 tested positive.

He added that there were 422 new cases of fatalities. However, the rate of fatalities are decreasing. “Again, this is at an unimaginable level,” Cuomo said, “and it’s dropping somewhat, but it is still devastating news.” 

“We’re still not out of the woods,” Tenke said at the pre-council meeting. “People have been calling me, calling and asking me to open up the recreational areas of Glen Cove, such as the beaches, the parks, the golf course.” 

Recreational areas will remain closed, Tenke said, until he receives the okay from Glen Cove Hospital, EMS and the Glen Cove Police Department. 

This is a decision that Glen Cove resident Jennifer Neen Malvino said she agrees with. “Once you open it, the flood gates open,” Neen said. “Everyone wants to go to the park, and I get it, but you still have to protect yourself.” 

Neen and her family have been staying home to protect themselves from Covid-19. Even so, she remains concerned that Glen Cove is among the highest hit communities. “It does [scare me] in a sense,” Neen said. “We are a small community, but for us to have that many, it’s a little scary.” 

To protect first responders during the pandemic, Glen Cove City Council accepted a proposal to secure 200 test kits on March 30 that will test for antibodies. The 200 tests from Henry Schein Inc., an American distributor of health care products and services based in Melville, cost $6,600. The money is expected to be partly reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. City officials approved the purchase at the April 14 City Council meeting. 

FEMA urged officials on March 19 to take appropriate actions to protect public health and safety saying it would reimburse 75 percent of Covid-19 related costs, including the cost of the 200 antibody tests. 

The antibody test analyzes blood, serum or plasma samples for the presence of Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies associated with the coronavirus. The test is done by collecting a few drops of blood into a test cartridge, followed by two or three drops to buffer. The results are ready within 15 minutes to be read.

The Food and Drug Administration recommends that results from antibody testing should not be used to solely diagnose or exclude coronavirus infection because if a person has not developed the antibodies when they are tested, they may get negative results even if they are infected. For this reason, the test has not been approved by the FDA. 

The distinction between the standard Covid-19 nasal swab test approved by the FDA and the antibody test was brought up at the April 14 council meeting, when the purchase of the tests was officially approved. Council members did ultimately agree that the antibody test would be a valuable resource. It was preferable, said . Councilman Rocco A. Totino and Councilwoman Dr. Eve Lupenko Ferrante because the results are available much quicker compared to the standard nasal swab test, which can that days or a weeks for results. The antibody test would be a good way to protect first responders, council members agreed.

But as of April 24, the city had still not received the tests. “Police Chief William Whitton is working on expediting our order so that we will have them for our first responders,” Tenke said. “No word on how much longer it may take.”