Gotta ZIP it in the bud

NYC tops 3%

After months of encouraging numbers, New York City’s daily coronavirus-infection rate is more than 3 percent — fueled by hot spots in Brooklyn and Queens, Mayor de Blasio said Tuesday as he vowed to ramp up enforcement.

“For the first time in quite a while, the daily number is over 3 percent and that is cause for concern,” de Blasio said.

“We do not want to see days like that.”

Hizzoner explained that primarily nine ZIP codes in Brooklyn and Queens have driven the daily positivity rate up to 3.25 percent — the highest rate since early June.

Those hot spots — Gravesend/Homecrest (11223), Midwood (11230), Kew Gardens (11415), Edgemere/Far Rockaway (11691), Borough Park (11219), Bensonhurst/ Mapleton (11204), Gerritsen Beach/Sheepshead Bay (11229), Flatlands (11210) and Kew Gardens Hills/Pomonok (11367) — account for more than 25 percent of all coronavirus cases citywide over the past two weeks.

The affected ZIP codes represent only 7 percent of the city’s population.

“If you look across the neighborhoods in the nine ZIP codes, it is a variety of communities across the spectrum,” said de Blasio.

The mayor not did specifically note that there is a large Orthodox Jewish presence in several of the neighborhoods where masses of people have been spotted not socially distancing or wearing face masks but said he has spoken to leaders of the Jewish community about the dire matter.

Gov. Cuomo, during his own Tuesday press briefing, vowed to meet with members of the Orthodox Jewish communities in a virtual call to address the cluster issue.

“If you look at those clusters and you look at those ZIP codes, you see there’s a large overlap with large Orthodox Jewish communities, and that is a fact,” Cuomo said. “This is a concern for their community, a public-health concern for their community. It’s also a public-health concern for surrounding communities.”

Meanwhile, de Blasio threatened that if progress is not made, the city will move to roll back the reopening efforts in the areas seeing upticks, including the shuttering of non-essential businesses, banning gatherings of more than 10 people and closing private schools.

In addition to the nine ZIP codes, the city has identified three areas — Rego Park (11374), Kensington/ Windsor Terrace (11218), and Brighton Beach/Manhattan Beach/Sheepshead Bay (11235) — that are showing a spike in coronavirus cases and test positivity between 2 percent and 3 percent.