Update: Municipalities can immediately reopen pools and playgrounds at their discretion, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday but the localities will have to monitor for new clusters of Covid-19 cases.
“We’ve had the most informed, science-based reopening in the country and as we continue our phased reopening the numbers continue to go down,” Cuomo said. “There is now one number to watch closely and that is the daily testing number because it is a snapshot of the day before and will tell us if the infection rate is going up in any given location. We’ve been doing everything right up until now, but we have to stay smart and keep following all the necessary precautions to keep getting those numbers down.”
Huntington announced June 3 that all pools and spray parks would remain closed this year because of concerns about another wave of infections. Huntington and the towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Islip and Smithtown all agreed to the closures.
The Town of Huntington said it is preparing to reopen the pool at Dix Hills but is awaiting guidance from the state.
While the infection rate continues to decline, Suffolk had the highest number of new cases in the state, after New York City, in the last 24 hours.
Suffolk’s total cases has climbed to 40,512, with 48 new cases since Wednesday. New York City’s total number of cases hit 208, 517, with 399 new cases since Wednesday.