Health experts: Expect a ‘second wave’ of COVID-19. How big? Depends on you.

Hospital executives and epidemiologists say that, while the number of COVID-19 patients in the region remains low, a second wave will come, and much of its trajectory will depend on whether Long Island residents follow social distancing guidelines. The timing and strength of the potential wave, however, is difficult to predict, experts said, adding that better testing and contact tracing should help keep the region from reaching April’s peak COVID-19 levels. “If we do all the right things, we can control it and minimize it,” said Dr. Reynold A. Panettieri Jr., professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “But it’s a fait accompli, it is going to come. This has been the case in Europe, and there is no reason to believe the United States, including this region, will be any different.” To read the full story.