Staten Island continues to defy the citywide trend in COVID-19 case reductions and vaccinations, according to the latest New York City Health Department data.
The rock had seven of the 10 ZIP codes in the Five Boroughs with the highest 7-day positivity rates between the week of Sept. 2-8. Staten Island also had the two areas with the largest number of new COVID-19 infections for the same period.
This comes as the city's Health Department reports that COVID-19 is back in retreat across the city, with positivity rates, hospitalizations and deaths all decreasing once again after a summer surge connected to the spread of the Delta variant.
If anything, things have gotten worse over the past week for parts of Staten Island — a borough that has been gripped with vaccine hesitancy [1] from the very start and saw some of the most stringent protests against mask mandates [2] last year.
After Mayor Bill de Blasio [3] and then-Governor Andrew Cuomo [4] imposed vaccine mandates on businesses and health care facilities, Staten Island saw protests from business owners [5] and health care workers [6] who decried the measures as government overreach and a violation of personal freedom.
The areas of Charleston/Prince's Bay/Woodrow (ZIP code 10309) registered the highest 7-day positivity rate in the city the week of Sept. 2-8, with 10.22%. That's up more than a full percent from the previous week, Aug. 28-Sept. 3 (9%).
The area also saw the total number of new COVID-19 infections rise from 98 between Aug. 28-Sept. 3 to 104 between Sept. 2-8.
The 7-day positivity rates also increased in the Staten Island areas of Tottenville (10307, 9.09% between Sept. 2-8, up from 8.71% between Aug. 28-Sept. 3); Great Kills (10308, 8.23% between Sept. 2-8, up from 8.02% between Aug. 28-Sept. 3); and Annadale/Rossville (10312, 7.22% between Sept. 2-8, up from 7.18% between Aug. 28-Sept. 3).
Breezy Point, Queens (11697). which last week had the highest 7-day positivity rate in the entire city at 11.11%, dropped off the top 10 list due to a substantially lower number of cases reported in the lightly-populated neighborhood. It clocked in the week of Sept. 2-8 with a 2.73% positivity rate and just three new infections.
[caption id="attachment_137550328" align="alignnone" width="1366"] The 10 NYC ZIP codes with the highest 7-day positivity rate between Sept. 2-8, 2021.New York City Health Department[/caption]
All but two of the areas on the 7-day positivity rate top 10 list currently have a fully vaccinated rate below 60%. Tottenville on Staten Island has the lowest fully vaccinated rate of all at 47%.
Staten Island's overall fully vaccinated rate of 57% is third among the five boroughs, but four points below the citywide rate of 61%.
[caption id="attachment_137550329" align="alignnone" width="1448"] The fully vaccinated rates for the 10 New York City areas with the highest 7-day positivity rates between Sept. 2-8, 2021.New York City Health Department[/caption]
In terms of total number of new COVID-19 infections, two Staten Island communities led the top 10 list as well: Bloomfield/Fresh Kills Park (10304) had the highest number of new positive cases between Sept. 2-8 with 143; the area's 5.62% 7-day positivity rate, however, was not in the top 10 list for 7-day positivity rates.
Annadale/Rossville had the second most new COVID-19 infections in the city with 126, followed by Ridgewood/Glendale, Queens (11385) with 121 and East Williamsburg/Williamsburg, Brooklyn (11211/11249) at 118.
[caption id="attachment_137550330" align="alignnone" width="1340"] The 10 New York City areas with the highest number of new COVID-19 cases between Sept. 2-8, 2021.New York City Health Department[/caption]
Chances are the overwhelming majority of new COVID-19 cases involve the Delta variant; the city's Department of Health reported that 98% of all new infections tested in the last month involved the highly-contagious, more potent strain.
On the vaccination front, eight New York City neighborhoods have fully vaccinated rates above 90%. All but one of them are in Manhattan. Areas of the Financial District, Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea all registered a perfect score.
[caption id="attachment_137550331" align="alignnone" width="1374"] The 10 New York City areas with the highest fully vaccinated rates.New York City Health Department[/caption]
In all, the spread of COVID-19 continues to decrease across the Five Boroughs, according to the city's Health Department. On Sept. 10, the city reported a 7-day positivity rate of 3.04%, down from the 3.44% registered on Sept. 2.
The hospitalization rate is down to 1.10 per 100,000 residents; more than 97% of all hospitalized patients are unvaccinated, health officials have said previously [7].
The overall report remains positive for a city that will begin enforcing vaccinate mandates [8] for businesses, and see many Broadway shows reopen, this week.
[caption id="attachment_137550332" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Actor Ben Crawford, dressed as "the Phantom," wears a protective face mask under his costume mask, as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, during his fitting in the closed lower lobby of the Majestic Theater in Manhattan, Sept. 3, 2021.REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs[/caption]
But COVID-19 continues to kill dozens of people per week. On Sept. 11, Governor Kathy Hochul's office reported 34 new COVID-19 deaths statewide, including 16 in New York City — five in the Bronx, two in Brooklyn, three in Manhattan, five in Queens and one on Staten Island.
[1] https://www.amny.com/news/covid-19-stats-staten-island-leads-city-new-cases/
[2] https://www.amny.com/new-york/dying-for-a-drink-staten-island-protesters-rail-at-shuttered-bar-against-covid-19-restrictions/
[3] https://www.amny.com/news/vaccine-mandate-for-restaurants-venues-goes-into-effect-tomorrow/
[4] https://www.amny.com/news/gov-cuomo-announces-vaccine-mandate-no-testing-for-some-state-hospital-workers/
[5] https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/08/06/vaccine-mandate-protest-staten-island-business-owners-nicole-malliotakis/
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/22/nyregion/staten-island-covid-vaccine-workers.html
[7] https://www.amny.com/coronavirus/covid-19-data-0-33-percent-vaccinated-new-yorkers-infected/
[8] https://www.amny.com/coronavirus/city-starts-enforcing-covid-vaccine-mandate-at-indoor-venues-monday/
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