Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday, October 20, and is experiencing mild symptoms, according to a statement released by his office.

Bellone, who is vaccinated against the virus, said in the statement that he was “in good health and spirits.” No other employees in the County Executive’s office have tested positive.

Now in his third term in office as county executive, Bellone was last re-elected in 2019. He is not running for re-election in 2022.

“I hope this serves as a reminder to all residents that while we are making incredible progress in the war against COVID-19, we are not done just yet,” Bellone said. “To that end, I encourage anyone who is eligible to receive their booster shot to do so.”

The Food and Drug Administration authorized, on Wednesday, booster shots of the two-dose Moderna and single-shot Johnson and Johnson coronavirus vaccines. Advisors to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the booster shots Thursday. The FDA approved booster shots of the two-dose vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech in September.

Booster shots of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are approved for recipients — six months after their second injection — who are 65 and older, in high risk workplace settings or at risk of COVID-19 complications because of medical conditions. Johnson & Johnson booster shots are approved for all recipients over 18 two months after their first shot.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said in a text message that he saw Bellone last week and was going to be tested for the coronavirus “to be on the safe side.”

“I hope he gets well quickly,” Schneiderman said.

Breakthrough infections have become increasingly common as the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines against infection wanes over time, and because of the emergence of the delta variant.

CDC data from August indicated that the unvaccinated were 11.3 times more likely to die from COVID-19 infection than the vaccinated. Unvaccinated individuals were 6.1 times more likely to become infected with COVID-19.