With schools back in session and New York City continuing to restore pre-COVID normalcy, the city’s Department of Health reported that the spread of the virus remains stable — but 15 areas of the Five Boroughs saw 100 or more new cases reported.
The common denominator for 14 of the 15 ZIP codes on that list is vaccination, or lack thereof, as their fully vaccinated rates were below 60%.
Brooklyn had the dubious distinction of dominating the top 15 list, with 11 neighborhoods in Kings County having 100 or more new COVID-19 cases between Sept. 8-14. East Williamsburg/Williamsburg (11211) lead the way with 178 new cases diagnosed during that week, good for a 7-day positivity rate of 4.57%.
That was followed by three other Brooklyn areas: Midwood (11230, 146 new cases, 5.83% 7-day positivity); Borough Park (11219, 139 new cases, 7.26% 7-day positivity); and Gravesend/Homecrest (11223, 136 new cases, 7.13% 7-day positivity).
All of these areas but one, however, are lagging below the citywide fully vaccinated rate of 62%. Borough Park had the lowest rate on that list with just 41% fully vaccinated and 46% of residents with at least one dose of the serum.
They were followed by Midwood (44% fully vaccinated, 50% with one dose), Ocean Hill-Brownsville (47% fully vaccinated, 56% with one dose), Cypress Hills/East New York (11207, 48% fully vaccinated, 56% with one dose) and Gravesend/Homecrest (50% fully vaccinated, 55% with one dose).
The lone exception of the 15 areas with the highest new COVID-19 cases over the past week is East Village/Gramercy/Greenwich Village in Manhattan (10003), which had a 70% fully vaccinated rate and 76% of residents with at least one dose.
In terms of infection rates, Borough Park’s 7.26% 7-day positivity rate between Sept. 8-14 checked in as the second-highest in the city. Sparsely populated Breezy Point, Queens — which has seen its positivity rates wildly fluctuate — was back on top with an 8.28% 7-day positivity rate, with 12 new cases diagnosed in the seaside community on the western tip of the Rockaway Peninsula.
Over the last week, several Staten Island communities have been at or near the top of the 7-day positivity rate lists, but the Sept. 8-14 report shows signs that COVID-19’s spread may be slowing on The Rock once again.
Tottenville (10307), which had a 9.09% 7-day positivity rate in the Sept. 2-8 report, was down to 5.64% in the Sept. 8-14 data. The most southwestern community in the Five Boroughs saw 29 new cases over the past week, down from 34 between Sept. 2-8.
Last week, Charleston/Prince’s Bay/Woodrow (10309) had the highest 7-day positivity rate in the entire city at 10.22%, but the Sept. 8-14 report showed the community’s rate had fallen to 5.36%. Over the past week, 66 new COVID-19 cases were detected there, down from 104 diagnoses between Sept. 2-8.
Annadale/Rossville (10312) saw its 7-day positivity rate drop from 7.22% on Sept. 2-8 to 5.15% on Sept. 8-14, with 117 new cases reported in the past week — down slightly from the previous week’s 126.
If you’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19 recently, chances are good you acquired the highly-contagious and more potent Delta variant. The city’s Health Department reported that 99% of all tested new cases over the past four weeks involved the strain.
Even with the Delta variant making the rounds in the city, the virus’ spread appears to be stable, if not slowing altogether, according to the city’s Health Department. The 7-day positivity rate on Sept. 17 was down to 2.77%, with a hospitalization rate of 1.10 per 100,000 people.
The one indicator that might trouble the city is an increasing number of probable COVID-19 cases. These involve people who got a positive antigen test (as opposed to a positive molecular test), or experienced symptoms and/or had confirmed exposure to an infected individual. As of Sept. 19, the daily average of probable cases was 388, up from 364 reported the previous week.
Vaccinations continue to be seen as key toward stopping the spread of COVID-19. As of Sept. 19, the city reported 5,139,122 fully vaccinated residents (62% of the population). Manhattan (71%) and Queens (68%) remain the only boroughs with fully vaccinated rates exceeding the citywide fully vaxxed percentage.
COVID-19, meanwhile, continues to kill dozens of New Yorkers every week. On Sept. 18, Governor Kathy Hochul’s office reported 10 additional COVID-19 deaths in the city: one in the Bronx, three in Brooklyn, three in Queens and three in Manhattan.
