Three Orthodox Jewish men die from COVID-19 just hours after arriving at a NYC hospital - as Mayor de Blasio threatens lockdown in neighborhoods seeing spikes
Three members of New York City's Orthodox Jewish community have died from COVID-19 just hours after being admitted to the same hospital.
The three men each presented at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn's Borough Park neighborhood on different days this week with severe coronavirus symptoms.
According to The New York Post, each of the men were 'too sick to be saved' and died before they could be properly treated. Their names have not been publicly released.
Three members of New York City's Orthodox Jewish community have died from COVID-19 just hours after presenting at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn
The deaths come as several New York neighborhoods that are home to large Orthodox Jewish communities are experiencing an alarming uptick in COVID-19 cases.
Borough Park is one of four areas in Brooklyn currently being monitored by the city's Health Department. Midwood, Bensonhurst and South Williamsburg are the others.
The Queens neighborhoods of Far Rockaway and Kew Gardens are similarly under observation.
According to the Health Department, these six neighborhoods account for around 20 percent of all recent COVID-19 cases across the Big Apple.
On Thursday, the New York City Health Department threatened to shutter non-essential businesses in those neighborhoods as early as next week if the number of coronavirus infections did not fall.
'For the first time in the city's recovery period, there could be the immediate scaling back of activities in these ZIP codes if progress is not made by next Monday evening,' a statement from the Department read.
Ambulances line up outside Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park on Friday
Mayor Bill de Blasio also noted the uptick in those neighborhoods and stated: 'It's something we have to address with a very aggressive public health effort right away'.
Mayor Bill de Blasio also noted the uptick in those neighborhoods and stated: 'It's something we have to address with a very aggressive public health effort right away'.
Dr Mitch Katz, the CEO of New York City's public healthcare system, said the city would distribute masks, gloves and hand sanitizer while officials will ask religious leaders to reinforce key public health messages.
Robocalls in English and Yiddish and sound trucks will urge residents to physically distance and wear a face covering, Katz said.
While the overall positive test rate is low across the city, health officials say rates in these six neighborhoods are considerably higher: Midwood (12%), Borough Park (15%), Bensonhurst (14%) and South Williamsburg (8%), as well as Queens' Far Rockaway (14%) and Kew Gardens (11%).
The increased cases in those six neighborhoods have so far not caused a spike in the weekly average trends for New York City infections. There has been a slight uptick in daily COVID-19 cases across the city in the last two weeks but the average positive test rate remains at 1%