Not one area of New York City registered more than 70 COVID-19 cases over the past week as the virus’ spread continues to plummet, according to data from the New York City Department of Health.
As of Feb. 25, the city’s 7-day positivity rate was down to 1.8%; just a month ago, on Jan. 29, that figure was 9.09%, and at the start of 2022, the positivity rate was about 20%. The figures reflect a 90% decline in COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the new year, when the city was in the midst of the Omicron variant-fueled wave of infections.
Hospitalizations and deaths are also dropping; the 7-day hospitalization rate, as of Feb. 25, was just 32, and the number of daily deaths was down to 21. Vaccinations have helped prevent or weaken infections, thus keeping more New Yorkers out of the hospital.
Transmission levels for COVID-19 have plummeted to 58.23 cases per 100,000 people citywide as of Feb. 22. Manhattan had the highest borough-wide rate at 82.09 per 100,000.
No New York City neighborhoods had a 7-day positivity rate above 4% between Feb. 16-22. Hamilton Beach/Howard Beach/Lindenwood, Queens (ZIP code 11414) had the highest rate in the entire city at 3.77%, with 19 new cases reported during the period.
That was followed by Auburndale/Murray Hill, Queens (11358, 3.70%, 28 new cases). Just ten other communities had 7-day positivity rates of 3% or higher.
Meanwhile, Hell’s Kitchen and Midtown Manhattan (10036) registered the most new COVID-19 infections in the city between Feb. 16-22, with just 66. By contrast, that represents just 2.9% of the 2,271 cases recorded in Cypress Hills/East New York, Brooklyn (11207) between Dec. 24-30, 2021, at the peak of the Omicron wave.
Only one other area of New York City had more than 60 new COVID-19 cases between Feb. 16-22: East Williamsburg/Williamsburg, Brooklyn (11211) had 65 cases, but a 0.84% positivity rate.
Infection rates for unvaccinated New Yorkers have also fallen off dramatically in recent weeks — from a peak of 8,942.46 cases per 100,000 people on Jan. 8 to just 430.35 per 100,000 people on Feb. 12. But the rate among vaccinated New Yorkers has remained consistently low, at 78.67 cases per 100,000 as of Feb. 12. That means the unvaccinated infection rate remains more than five times higher than their vaccinated counterparts.
