New York City's COVID-19 infection rate rises to 1.52% as cases continue to spike in 10 zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens and more than 1,000 city officials are sent to police the neighborhoods
New York City's COVID-19 infection rate has risen to 1.52 per cent as cases continue to spike in 10 zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens.
The clusters in the 10 zip codes had caused the average citywide infection rate to rise, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday.
The seven-day infection rate average was 1.38 percent on Tuesday but has since climbed to 1.52 percent, the latest figures show.
New York City on Thursday recorded its highest daily new case average in at least a month with 394 coronavirus infections.
The 10 zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens are now also part of the 20 hotspots zip codes across New York state that collectively have an average infection rate of 6.5 percent, Gov Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.
New York City 's COVID-19 infection rate has risen to 1.52 per cent as cases continue to spike in 10 zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens
Those 20 hotspot clusters have not resulted in a statewide spike in the infection rate, which is currently at 1.27 percent.
Prior to the recent uptick in NYC, the positivity rate - which is the proportion of positive results out of the total number of tests performed - had long hovered around one percent.
According to authorities, the uptick in cases is occurring in Brooklyn neighborhoods with significant populations of Orthodox Jews and coincides with gatherings linked to the recent holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The zip codes with the uptick in cases have accounted for about 25 percent of the city's new daily cases in the last two weeks.
While NYC's positivity rates remain low compared to other major cities across the country, de Blasio said the uptick was concerning.
The latest figures were released on a day when the final wave of students returned to schools across the city for in-person classes.
De Blasio warned that he would shut schools down again if the average positivity rate across NYC exceeded 3 percent.
The Brooklyn neighborhoods seeing an uptick include: Edgemere/Far Rockaway (4.74%), Gravesend/Homecrest (6.9%), Midwood (5.62%), Borough Park (6.51%), Bensonhurt/Mapleton (6.31%), Gerritsen Beach/Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay (4.13%) and Flatlands/Midwood (4.66%).
The Queens neighborhoods include: Kew Gardens (3.29%), Kew Gardens Hills/Pomonok (3.68%) and Fresh Meadows/Hillcrest (3.08%).
The seven-day infection rate average was 1.38 percent on Tuesday but has since climbed to 1.52 percent, the latest figures from Mayor Bill de Blasio showed on Thursday
New York City on Thursday recorded its highest daily new case average in at least a month with 394 coronavirus infections
The clusters in the 10 zip codes had caused the average citywide infection rate to rise, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday
New York City on Thursday recorded its highest daily new case average in at least a month with 394 coronavirus infections. It is down from the average peak of more than 5,000 per day in April
De Blasio said the city was sending police and health workers to impacted neighborhoods to promote distancing and mask-wearing - and to issue summons if necessary to anyone refusing to comply.
Gov Cuomo also noted that cases are spiking in parts of the New York suburbs that are home to Orthodox communities and said he had spoken to religious leaders to discuss combating the spread.
'A cluster today can become community spread tomorrow,' Cuomo said. 'These ZIP codes are not hermetically sealed.'
He implored local authorities to increase enforcement measures.
'If they're not wearing masks, they should be fined,' Cuomo said. 'If you speed in your car, you get a ticket. That's how it works.'
Once the epicenter of the US outbreak, New York's infection rates are considerable lower that other states despite the recent uptick - a hard-won metric after the state tallied thousands of cases per day during the peak of its outbreak in April.
The state's positive test rate remains much lower than that of some Midwestern states where 15 percent of tests have been coming back positive.
Nationally, the share of all tests that came back positive for COVID-19 held steady at about 5 percent in the last week, which is well below a recent peak of nearly 9 percent in mid-July, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams hands out masks in the Borough Park neighborhood this week after the region, which has a high Orthodox Jewish population, reported a spike in COVID-19 cases
Crowds of Orthodox Jewish people were filmed gathering in New York City over the weekend as COVID-19 infection rates continue to spike in the Big Apple
However, 28 states have positive test rates above the 5 percent level that the World Health Organization considers concerning because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered.
The positivity rate has risen to 26 percent in South Dakota. Wisconsin's rate was at 19 percent on Monday, Iowa's was 16 percent, Missouri's was 16 percent, Kansas' was 15 percent and Nebraska's 14 percent.
The number of coronavirus cases across the US has been increasing and is currently averaging at more than 40,000. Deaths have been trending down nationally with an average of about 700 American dying per day.
New cases of COVID-19 rose in 27 out of 50 states in September compared with August, according a Reuters analysis.
The Midwest states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin all saw cases surge more than 50 percent month-over-month, as did Montana, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Illinois had the smallest increase among the 27 states with rising cases, up 5 percent month-over-month. The only Midwest states where cases fell were Ohio and Indiana.
Of states where cases fell month-over-month, California had the biggest decline at 50 percent, followed by Nevada at 49 percent and Florida at 47 percent.
Twenty-one states reported more deaths in September than in August, with the biggest percentage increases North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
