Analysis: New cases have dropped in every LI town over recent months  This map shows the concentration of new cases in each community, with Nassau data as of Friday and Suffolk data as of Saturday. Buoyed by falling case numbers, Long Island towns and cities are reopening senior centers, resuming in-person meetings and planning big Fourth of July celebrations. Concert venues and sports arenas are offering full-capacity seating for vaccinated patrons. Islandwide, there were 45 times fewer weekly cases in the week ending Wednesday, with 503 positives, than in the week ending Jan. 11, when there were 22,749, according to Newsday's analysis of data on all 15 towns and cities provided by Nassau and Suffolk counties. Weekly case totals now range from five or fewer cases per 100,000 people in Glen Cove, East Hampton, Shelter Island and Southold, to 25 cases per 100,000 in Babylon. "This is a testament to vaccination," said Dr. Bruce Polsky, an infectious disease specialist who is chairman of medicine at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola. "Vaccination works." Polsky said although the rising vaccination rate is the main reason numbers have tumbled so low, the warmer weather — when people spend more time outdoors and transmission of the virus is less likely — is a factor. Read more about the trend in this exclusive story by Newsday's David Olson and Matt Clark. The number of new positives reported today: 23 in Nassau, 19 in Suffolk, 156 in New York City and 320 statewide. | | | Newsday readers support our strong local journalism by subscribing. Please show you value this important work by becoming a subscriber now. | | | The chart below shows the trend of new cases confirmed on Long Island each day from January to yesterday.  This chart shows the number of new coronavirus cases confirmed each day on Long Island. Search a map of new cases and view more charts showing the latest trends in vaccinations, testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more. LIers with weakened immune systems still wary of virus  Carlos Rosales, a Brentwood resident, is one of millions of Americans who are immunocompromised. Credit: Howard Simmons Carlos Rosales got his second COVID-19 vaccine shot on June 7. Even so, the Brentwood man said he'll continue wearing masks and avoiding most public places because he has a weakened immune system that's less likely to produce virus antibodies. "It will always be on my mind that I'm at risk," Rosales said. "Even though I'll have two [shots], I'm always going to be careful." Rosales, 44, is one of millions of Americans who are immunocompromised, which means they have immune systems that are less able to protect them from infections and diseases. The vaccine typically triggers the immune system to generate antibodies to fight off the virus, but that often doesn't happen in immunocompromised people, studies show. Read more from this story by Newsday's David Olson for more on what experts and doctors say. Hauppauge schools to state: We will follow your guidance on masks  The exterior of Hauppauge High School seen on Sunday. Credit: Howard Simmons The face-off between Hauppauge schools and the Cuomo administration ended Sunday as district officials said in a letter to the community that masks will continue to be required indoors. Newsday's Dandan Zou reports the Sunday note came three days after the school board president and the teachers union president told state officials in a letter that they assumed they could no longer require masks be worn when social distancing is possible. But that would defy state guidance that mandates indoor masking. The June 10 letter was signed by school board president David Barshay and Hauppauge Teachers Association president Kevin Giachetti. District Superintendent Dennis O'Hara previously said he was not consulted on the prior note and that "masks should be worn to protect everybody in the school community," including those with medical conditions who are not vaccinated. De Blasio announces ticker-tape parade for pandemic heroes New York City will host a ticker-tape parade through lower Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes on July 7 to honor the heroes who provided care and comfort throughout the pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced. "We promised the heroes who led the fight against #COVID19 a celebration like our city had never seen," de Blasio tweeted as he unveiled the plan for a "Hometown Heroes Parade" at a City Hall news conference. De Blasio cited indicators such as a city coronavirus positivity rate that has dropped to 0.59% as signs the city is poised to make a rapid comeback. "This is what we've been waiting for," he said. More to know  A Phase 3 Novavax coronavirus vaccine trial volunteer is given an injection at St. George's University hospital in London on Oct. 7, 2020. Credit: AP/Alastair Grant Novavax said its COVID-19 vaccine was highly effective against the disease and protected against variants in a large study in the U.S. and Mexico, potentially offering the world another weapon against the virus. The New York State Fair, canceled in 2020, will return Aug. 20 at 100% capacity, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday, adding the state is nearing a milestone of 70% of adults having at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. "The Talk" co-host Amanda Kloots tracks her life with actor husband Nick Cordero, who died of COVID-19, in a memoir that's being published Tuesday. News for you  Ina Pollifrone-Visich, 31, owner of the North Fork Plant Co. in Wading River, holds one of the plants inside her shop on May 30. Credit: Randee Daddona Bringing the outside inside. Decorating with houseplants has become a big thing again — and the pandemic made a lot of people crave signs of life and a connection to the outdoors, experts say. If you're shopping for a houseplant, here are some local stores you might want to try. The search for LI's best drink. Drinking at a bar was off limits for much of the past year, and there's something new this year to find a good drink: The LI Cocktail Tour 2021. It's a summerlong, self-guided tour of Long Island cocktail bars that asks ticket holders to sample and vote for their favorite drinks. Get the details on how it works. Museum brings back interactive event. The Museum of American Armor is getting ready for the annual "World War II Encampment Weekend" at Old Bethpage Village Restoration on June 19 and 20. This marks the museum's first interactive event since the pandemic.  The plaque outside Suffolk County's H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge dedicated to public transportation workers who died after contracting COVID-19. Credit: Morgan Campbell Plus: The 21 transportation workers Long Island lost to COVID-19 were honored Saturday with a bronze plaque set in a boulder listing their names under just three words: "Never Be Forgotten." Sign up for text messages to get the most important coronavirus news and information. Commentary  Demonstrators gathered Wednesday outside the Nassau County Legislative building to protest the state mask mandate for schools. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara It's time to stop protesting masks. Tiffanie Kempf, of Remsenburg-Speonk, writes in a letter for Newsday Opinion: I am tired. I am tired of teaching with a mask on all day. I am tired of lugging a cart from room to room and building to building because I have lost my classroom of 20-plus years due to social distancing. I could go on! But I am far more tired of hearing loud, demeaning, protesters screaming at people who aren't in charge. I'm tired of parents' absurd proclamations of abuse and loss of freedom. One Smithtown protester claims that masked children are quiet, obedient and rule-following. Based on the past 10 months, that is not true. They're the same as they've been for the 28 years I've been teaching. They laugh, they have fun, they learn. Is it optimal? No. Are they suffering irreparable harm? No. You would think in a world with so much hatred, poverty, illness — heart-wrenching tragedies — people would realize that the families who lost their loved ones are the ones truly suffering. Enough protesting. Read this letter and others here. | 
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