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Friday, January 29, 2021
Vol. 70, No. 5
HEALTH, WELLNESS AND BEAUTY GUIDE PAGES 21-28
WHEATLEY STUDENT A REGENERON FINALIST
CURRAN EXTENDS GRIEVANCE DEADLINE
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‘Play ball’: Nassau backs high-risk sports
TWILIGHT TRACK
State, county officials authorize athletics to resume on Monday BY R O S E W E L D ON Nassau County has announced that it will support the playing of high-risk high school sports in line with state guidance. The action came last Friday on the same day the state said that it would reauthorize the playing of such sports beginning Feb. 1. Guidelines from the New York Department of Health issued on Jan. 21 listed these sports as high risk: basketball, boys lacrosse, competitive cheerleading, football, ice hockey, volleyball and wrestling. Last month the New York State Public High School Athletic Association announced that high-risk sports across all seasons would be postponed until reauthorized by the state, delaying the scheduled start of the high-risk winter sports. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, who had supported playing sports during the pandemic, said in a statement on Friday that she had directed the county
Health Department to work with school districts “to safely resume school sports according to [state] guidance.” “As Nassau County Executive, I’ve continued to advocate for the safe resumption of organized sports, as well as for keeping our businesses and schools open,” Curran said. “For many, school sports are a path to promising academic and career opportunities. I’m excited to get our kids back on the fields, courts, and ice rinks they love so much. Let’s play ball!” “Effective February 1, 2021, participants in higher-risk sports and recreation activities may partake in individual or distanced group training and organized no/ low-contact group training and, further, may partake in other types of play, including competitions and tournaments, only as permitted by the respective local health authorities (i.e., county health departments),” the guidelines state. Continued on Page 35
PHOTO COURTESY OF WHEATLEY ATHLETICS
The Wheatley Wildcats track team prepares for the upcoming season.
N.Y. to receive more weekly vaccine doses BY R OB E RT PELAEZ
doses along with guaranteed doses for the next three weeks. The action will increase the Gov. Andrew Cuomo an- number of doses the state renounced on Tuesday that New ceives from 250,000 a week to York will receive a 16 percent roughly 420,000, Cuomo said. He said the state had been increase in coronavirus vaccine
managing to acquire vaccines on a week-to-week basis. Cuomo said the news was confirmed on a call with the National Governors Association, Jeff Zients, the counselor Continued on Page 36
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