Coronavirus Rates Still Elevated In Bed-Stuy, Data Shows

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN —Coronavirus rates are still elevated in some Bed-Stuy ZIP codes nearly two months after the neighborhood was put on a watchlist by health officials, new data shows.

Data released this week — which is updated daily with weekly COVID-19 testing results for every New York City ZIP code — shows that two out of five ZIP codes encompassing a portion of Bed-Stuy remain above a 2 percent positivity rate, a marker set in September for a potential surge.

The 2-percent threshold has since been surpassed by just about half of the city's ZIP codes as the city as a whole faces an increase in the percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive.

In Bed-Stuy, positivity rates have improved for at least one ZIP code, 11205, since it was added to the coronavirus watchlist in September, but have worsened in others.

The city once considered a localized lockdown in the 11205 ZIP code.

According to the new data, 11205 stood at a 1.23 percent positivity rate between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7 compared to the 1.92 percent rate it had in September. The September rate was based on a 14-day average.

The rate has only worsened, though, in another Bed-Stuy ZIP code on the watchlist, 11206. In 11206 — which the health department qualifies as Southern Williamsburg — the rate stood at 2.64 percent between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7. It had been under 2 percent in September.

Rates were also high in an eastern portion of Bed-Stuy, the 11221 ZIP code, where the positivity rate stood at 2.28 percent between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7.

Here is the COVID-19 testing data in all Bed-Stuy ZIP codes between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7:

• 11221 — Bedford-Stuyvesant (East)/Bushwick: 48 positive cases, 2.28 percent positivity
• 11233 —Bedford-Stuyvesant (East)/Ocean Hill-Brownsville: 26 positive cases, 1.69 percent positivity
• 11216 — Bedford-Stuyvesant (West)/Crown Heights (West): 24 positive cases, 1.46 percent positivity
• 11205 — Bedford-Stuyvesant (West)/Clinton Hill/Fort Greene: 15 positive cases, 1.23 percent positivity
• 11206 — Williamsburg (South): 54 positive cases, 2.64 percent positivity

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that the city would resurrect the release of ZIP Code-specific COVID-19 data. The city had stopped publishing it to avoid confusion with the state's geographically-based color-coded "zones."

The zones in Brooklyn were modified on Monday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

De Blasio said worrying signs that the coronavirus is reasserting itself prompted officials to bring back the ZIP Code data, with some tweaks, to help inform New Yorkers.

The overall positivity rate has also continued to climb, hitting an average of 2.31 percent over the last week in New York City as of Tuesday.