Staten Is. virus spike
2 areas stir concern, city rushes response
Two Staten Island zip codes are seeing an increase in coronavirus transmission, prompting city health officials to step up prevention efforts there.
Mayor de Blasio revealed Thursday that COVID-19 positivity rates are now exceeding 3% in both the 10305 zip code, which includes Dongan Hills, South Beach and Rosebank, and the 10314 zip code, which includes Bulls Head and Westerleigh.
“In a couple of zip codes in Staten Island, we see the kind of increase that makes us concerned,” he said Thursday at a City Hall press briefing. “We’re going to send out a lot of activity now to address this.”
Stats released by Gov. Cuomo’s office Thursday revealed that the positivity test rate for the entire borough of Staten Island stood at 3% as of Wednesday. The second highest borough-wide rate in the city is in the Bronx and totaled 1.9% on Wednesday.
COVID hot spots in Brooklyn and Queens that the state designated as red and yellow zones remained either at or below 3% as of Thursday.
The Staten Island COVID clusters represent two new fronts in the city’s battle against the virus. For weeks, health officials have been fighting back outbreaks in Brooklyn and Queens that resulted in added restrictions on businesses, schools and houses of worship. Those closures led to simmering tensions and protests in Borough Park, where some community leaders claimed without evidence the restrictions amounted to an anti-Jewish, anti-Trump attack against their community.
Pro-Trump rallies on Staten Island in the run-up to the election led to speculation that they could act as super-spreader events, but de Blasio and health officials said Thursday that the cause of the clusters still isn’t clear.
De Blasio said there isn’t enough evidence to indicate that political leanings or disinformation about the virus played a role in its spread on Staten Island.
“Fatigue is a big factor,” he said. “People need to be reminded how important it is to wear masks and do social distancing. People need to have testing made really readily available.”
To combat the new upticks, Dr. Ted Long, head of the city’s Test T and Trace Corps, said the city would increase testing in the impacted areas with 10 new testing sites throughout Staten Island and a new rapid testing site at the St. George Ferry Terminal.
“You can come in, get your test done quickly, have a result back within w 15 minutes, and then if it’s positive, you’ll join with one of our in-person contact tracers,” he said. “Before you leave the building, we’re going to pair you up with one of our resource navigators, where we’re going to ask, ‘What would it take to keep you and your family safe and have you stay at home to get through this?’”
Long added that some of the services the city provides are free food delivery, free hotel stays and even a free dog-walking service.