Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District preps as coronavirus hits Nassau

A day before Nassau County confirmed its first case of novel coronavirus, Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Superintendent John DeTommaso assured parents at the March 4 Board of Education meeting that the district was taking all necessary precautions to keep students and staff safe — and has been since January.

“We’re ahead of this,” DeTommaso said.

In a Jan. 27 email, he informed residents that the district was working with officials from NYU Winthrop Hospital and the Nassau County Department of Health on implementing additional preventive measures aside from its usual flu prevention practices — that is, thorough cleaning and disinfection of facilities, reminding students and staff to cover their coughs and encouraging frequent hand-washing.

A month later, in another letter, DeTommaso wrote that the district’s administrative team had begun discussions on how to communicate with the community in the event of an extended school closure to prevent the spread of illness. In a March 5 letter, DeTommaso wrote that the district would use Infinite Campus, its student management system, to update families and digitally administer assignments if such action was deemed necessary.

“Over the next few days, teachers will be having conversations in class about the ways in which they plan to communicate with students should there be a need to close school for an extended period,” the letter read. “Our hope is that students will understand that this is simply a . . . proactive measure. The last thing we want is to escalate feelings of fear and anxiety.”

Last week, 40 finalists in the Society for Science & the Public’s 2020 Regeneron Science Talent Search were notified that the final stage of the national competition, which was scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., this month, would be postponed until the summer due to mounting concerns about coronavirus. Two of the finalists, Andrew Brinton and Katherine St George, attend John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore.

The Bellmore-Merrick Broadcasting program canceled its trip to the Student Television Networks Convention in Washington this week, but Ronald Reznik, a sophomore at Wellington C. Mepham High School, is still scheduled to travel there on March 17 with the National Association of Gifted Children’s legislative action network.

Coronavirus takes hold

The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nassau stood at 19 as of press time Tuesday, according to County Executive Laura Curran. There was one confirmed case in Suffolk.

Curran posted county Department of Health guidelines on Twitter: Elderly residents and those with respiratory conditions should not attend large public gatherings, and people feeling sick should not visit the elderly or those with respiratory conditions.

Across New York state, there were 148 confirmed cases, including 98 in Westchester County and 25 in New York City, with one in Far Rockaway. Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday.

Cuomo said he expected the number of coronavirus cases to climb as the state conducted more tests for the virus. Northwell Health and Stony Brook University Hospital are aiding in testing patients.

Nassau’s first confirmed case of coronavirus last week was a 42-year-old man who works at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre, according to Uniondale School District and Mercy officials.

Uniondale Superintendent Dr. William Lloyd said in a statement on Friday, “The district has been in close contact with Nassau County and New York state health officials, and we have been told that at the current time, there is no reason to take any additional precautionary or preventive measures than those we already have in place.”

Authorities said the man is a part-time employee at Mercy, and they were determining whom he had come in contact with. Officials said they were unsure how he contracted the illness, but he had not been to work at the hospital for a week.

He was being treated at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, officials said. Cuomo said on March 5, “His condition keeps improving.”

In a statement to the Herald, Mercy Medical Center said that the state Department of Health notified the hospital of the case on March 3.  The man last worked an eight-hour shift at Mercy toward the end of February, when he was not exhibiting symptoms, the statement said.

Mercy’s infection-prevention specialists were conducting a contact investigation with people the man may have been in contact with, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, Mercy officials said. They also noted that Catholic Health Services, which administers Mercy, is “prepared to diagnose and treat patients showing symptoms of COVID-19 while also taking the necessary steps to prevent the spread of the disease.”

“The health system is prepared, and prevention and control protocols are in place, to appropriately isolate patients who enter its facilities to prevent the potential transmission of infection,” said Patrick O’Shaughnessy, CHS’s executive vice president and chief clinical officer. “All CHS clinical personnel are educated on the latest CDC and New York State Department of Health coronavirus guidelines and recommendations.

The plan for prevention

At a news conference at the Nassau County Police Department Highway Patrol facility in North Bellmore last Friday, Curran and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder announced measures to protect police officers and medics when they respond to cases involving people who display coronavirus symptoms. The protective equipment includes respirator masks, eye shields, and medical gloves and gowns.

According to police medic Kris Kalendar, he and his colleagues, who provide pre-hospital emergency care on ambulances, have picked up patients who were “exhibiting flu-like symptoms after recent travel,” he said, “but none had tested positive for coronavirus.”

Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein, the Nassau County health commissioner, said at the news conference that the department is conducting “case-contact investigations” for each confirmed patient to see whom the person had come into contact with from the time of his or her exposure.

He also advised the public to be calm. “We want people to go about their usual business,” Eisenstein said. The coronavirus, he added, is “a respiratory virus — what works for cold and flu prevention also works for coronavirus prevention.” Most important, people should thoroughly wash their hands — up to 20 seconds — and limit physical contact such as handshaking and hugging.

“We’re taking every step necessary to keep our residents healthy and safe,” Curran tweeted, adding, “If you’re sick, call your healthcare provider before visiting. They’ll direct you on next steps.”