A guide to local stores' mask-wearing policies  In Long Beach and throughout Long Island, people are split over whether they'll continue wearing masks as the state adopted the CDC guidance that says fully vaccinated individuals can shed them in many cases. Credit: Reece T. Williams Under the recent CDC recommendations, if you're fully vaccinated, you no longer have to wear a mask or social distance except where it's required by law or by businesses, or in certain public places such as public transportation, in schools, homeless shelters, correctional facilities and health care settings. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said businesses and other private entities are not required to accept the guidelines, and can set their own rules. So what does that mean for going into stores on Long Island? We have a list of some of the mask policies we know.
Some large retailers that aren't requiring masks for vaccinated customers: Aldi, Lidl, Stew Leonard's, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Costco, Target, Home Depot, Kohl's Other retailers that are still requiring masks, regardless of vaccination status: King Kullen and Stop & Shop | | | Newsday readers support our strong local journalism by subscribing. Please show you value this important work by becoming a subscriber now. | | | See the full list. The new policy is "largely operating on the honor system," said Dr. Chid Iloabachie, associate chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital, during a Newsday Live webinar held this week. "There's not a reliable way to tell if any given person has been vaccinated or not vaccinated or half-vaccinated … We need to trust people in our community and trust those around us." During the live discussion, local experts answered reader questions about the next steps in reopening. Read more and watch it here. Plus: Catch up on which changes took effect yesterday, from capacity restrictions to residential gathering limits. The number of new positives reported today: 91 in Nassau, 85 in Suffolk, 570 in New York City and 1,583 statewide. The graphic below shows when we could expect to see 70%, and then 90%, of Long Island's population to be fully vaccinated if the current pace continues.  If the current pace of vaccinations continues, this shows when we could expect to have 70%, and then 90%, of Long Island's population vaccinated. Search a map of new cases and view more charts showing the latest local trends in vaccinations, testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more. A chance to win $5M is the newest vaccine incentive Gov. Cuomo, calling the slowing pace of COVID-19 vaccinations "troubling news," announced on Thursday an incentive to get New Yorkers vaccinated next week: a ticket for the state's Mega Multiplier lottery, where the top prize is $5 million. Cuomo described the "Vax & Scratch" program at a briefing in Buffalo as he said the number of vaccinations statewide is slowing "dramatically." The lottery ticket is a $20 value, he said, and he put the chances of winning "something" with it at 1 in 9. The pilot program runs from next Monday to Friday. The tickets can be obtained at 10 state-run mass vaccination sites including those at Stony Brook University, the Javits Center in Manhattan, York College in Queens and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. Report: LI minority-owned small businesses hit harder by pandemic  Elsie Damus, who has owned Claudy's Beauty Supply for 36 years, is shown in her Uniondale shop on May 14. Credit: Danielle Silverman Like so many small Long Island businesses in the past year, Claudy's Beauty Supply in Uniondale faced unimaginable challenges from the pandemic. Owner Elsie Damus and her husband, Claude, both were hospitalized with COVID-19. The shop closed for four months. Key corporate customers bailed out. Sales were down at least 80%, and reluctantly, the family business decided it couldn't fund three annual scholarships for Uniondale High School graduating seniors. Yet when Elsie Damus — a Haitian immigrant who founded the business 36 years ago — sought federal financial assistance from a local bank, she was turned down and told the shop was ineligible. No reason was given, the family said. Damus' story was similar for minority-owned businesses all over Long Island. Read more from this story by Newsday's Carl MacGowan. What's new in LI wine country after a COVID year  Friends Blake Buchinski, 27, of Massapequa, Brendan Adams, 26, of Garden City, Caroline Nickels, 25, of Floral Park, and Elizabeth Toro, 25, of Massapequa, gather at Paumanok Vineyards on Saturday. Credit: Randee Daddona Last year at this time, Long Island wineries were facing COVID-19 restrictions. Today, wineries are moving to capitalize on the legion of new customers who packed the wine region in the months after lockdown, and they are investing in their wines, vineyards and tasting rooms as they prepare for a summer season that some predict could be double last year's. Traffic to the region, which fluctuates between 750,000 and 1 million visitors a year, already is trending toward the higher side of the scale, winery owners say. Relaxation of mask-wearing rules could provide a bigger bump. Read more about what's new in wine country from this story by Newsday's Mark Harrington. More to know The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 444,000, a new pandemic low and a sign that the job market keeps strengthening. Fans attending Islanders playoff games at Nassau Coliseum will be able to buy food and drink at the games, the team announced on Wednesday. The Island Harvest Food Bank announced the return of its Healthy Harvest Farm at the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brentwood, which was forced to suspend farming operations last year to divert its resources to address the more-urgent needs of Long Islanders. News for you  Lori Fitzgibbon, of Lindenhurst, and Ann Marie Zaccaro, of Massapequa, enjoy a drink on the beach in front of Salt Shack in Cedar Beach in Babylon. Credit: Yvonne Albinowski Taking a staycation? Try these tropical spots on LI. If you're not traveling far this year, there are some Long Island spots that give off a tropical vibe and will make you forget you're close to home. From tiki bars to salt shacks and beach resorts, check out this guide. Long Island Pride's outdoor concert. It will feature Queen tribute band Almost Queen at Eisenhower Park's Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre in East Meadow on June 13. The rain-or-shine event will require all attendees to be fully vaccinated and present proof — and because of this requirement, no masks or social distancing will be enforced. A new pop-up art gallery. The Locust Valley Gallery, a pop-up that opened in mid-April and will close in mid-June, was an unexpected offspring of the pandemic and a dream come true for four Long Island women artists. They partnered for a place to share their artwork with the community. Check it out. Your summer TV preview. The shadow of the pandemic still exists, but summer TV is nearly here. Some returning favorites are nowhere to be seen while anticipated newcomers are on the distant horizon. In the meantime, here's a list from Newsday's Verne Gay of what to expect. Plus, on Friday afternoon: Should your kids get the vaccine? Long Island medical and education experts answer your questions during a virtual discussion. Register here for the noon event. Sign up for text messages to get the most important coronavirus news and information. Commentary Quite the incentive  Credit: Newsday/Matt Davies Newsday's Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Matt Davies has political cartoons on the pandemic, then and now, on Long Island and beyond. See more of his cartoons. | 
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