‘Alarming’ Coronavirus Growth Tracked In 8 NYC Neighborhoods

NEW YORK CITY — A smattering of coronavirus clusters across several New York City neighborhoods have grown three times faster than the rest of the city, health officials said.

Eight neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens now account for 23 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the entire city, according to a city health department release Sunday.

Health officials first sounded an alarm on the growing cases last week and warned that a new round of coronavirus lockdowns could be coming to the ZIP codes should the upticks not improve. The Health Department said last week they will decide by Monday whether the shutdown measures are necessary.

Many of the neighborhoods have large Orthodox Jewish populations, who have been the focus of recent outreach efforts.

“COVID-19 cases continue to grow at an alarming rate in eight neighborhoods in the city, outpacing the citywide average by 3.3 times over the past 14 days,” the most recent health department release states.

The neighborhoods and positivity rates are:

• Gravesend/Homecrest (6.75 percent)
• Midwood (5.34 percent)
• Kew Gardens (3.82 percent)
• Edgemere/Far Rockaway (3.9 percent)
• Borough Park (4.63 percent)
• Bensonhurst/Mapleton (4.41 percent)
• Gerritsen Beach/Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay (3.91 percent)
• Flatlands/Midwood (3.85 percent)

Dave Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner, also recently issued a Commissioner’s Order for non-public schools in those six Brooklyn and two Queens ZIP codes. It aims to enforce coronavirus safety measures.

“Any school found to be out of compliance will be issued a violation and face a possible closure,” a release states. “The fine for violating a Commissioner’s Order is $1,000.”

Health officials also identified four additional neighborhoods where cases have ticked up and positivity rates hover between 2 and 3 percent. Those are:

• Rego Park (2.34 percent)
• Kew Gardens Hills/Pomonok (2.71 percent)
• Kensington/Windsor Terrace (2.45 percent)
• Brighton Beach/Manhattan Beach/Sheepshead Bay (2.74 percent)

Williamsburg also has a faster increase in cases, although its positivity rate stands at 1.78 percent, officials said.