COVID Cluster Update – Half of Brooklyn Under Watch
Yesterday, October 1, the Health Department issued a new Commissioner’s Order giving city agencies the power to issue closure orders to businesses for repeat non-compliance with State and local COVID-19 health and safety requirements.
There are now 11 neighborhoods in 4 clusters across the city that are showing an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases. Two of those clusters are in Brooklyn, as you can see on the map above. The Ocean Parkway cluster now looks to encompass half of Brooklyn, and is just one neighborhood away from merging with the Williamsburg cluster.
The 11 neighborhoods (in deep orange above) all have positivity rates above 3%, accounting for 1/3 of all new COVID-19 cases citywide over the last two weeks, while being home to just 8.8% of the city’s overall population. The 7-day average percent positivity is 6.43% for the 11 neighborhoods, DOH informs.
There are 7 neighborhoods that the city is also concerned about where there is rapid growth in COVID19 cases despite the total infection rates in the areas remaining under 3%.
Below is more detail:
| Neighborhoods of concern in cluster areas over 3% positivity | |||||
| Cluster | Case Growth case rate in cluster area compared to citywide | Neighborhoods | ZIP Codes | 14-day positivity rate | Change from previous day |
| Far Rockaway | 4.17 times the citywide rate | Edgemere/Far Rockaway | 11691 | 4.80% | 0.06% |
|
Southern Brooklyn
|
1.52 times the citywide rate
|
Brighton Beach/Manhattan Beach/Sheepshead Bay | 11235 | 3.40% | 0.43% |
| Gravesend/Homecrest | 11223 | 7.16% | 2.62% | ||
| Midwood | 11230 | 5.89% | 0.27% | ||
| Borough Park | 11219 | 7.09% | 0.58% | ||
| Bensonhurst/Mapleton | 11204 | 6.69% | 0.38% | ||
| Gerritsen Beach/Homecrest/ Sheepshead Bay | 11229 | 3.99% | -0.14% | ||
| Flatlands/Midwood | 11210 | 4.91% | 0.25% | ||
|
Central Queens
|
1.66 times the citywide rate
|
Rego Park | 11374 | 3.18% | 0.52% |
| Kew Gardens | 11415 | 4.17% | 0.88% | ||
| Kew Gardens Hills/Pomonok | 11367 | 3.60% | -0.08% | ||
| Neighborhoods of concern in cluster areas under 3% positivity | |||||
|
Williamsburg
|
3.11 times the citywide rate
|
East Williamsburg/ Williamsburg | 11211/ 11249 | 1.99% | -0.07% |
| Bedford-Stuyvesant (West)/Clinton Hill/Fort Greene | 11205 | 1.88% | -0.19% | ||
|
Southern Brooklyn
|
1.52 times the citywide rate
|
Bergen Beach/Flatlands/Marine Park/Mill Basin | 11234 | 2.24% | 0.26% |
| Kensington/Windsor Terrace | 11218 | 2.77% | -0.02% | ||
| Crown Heights (East) | 11213 | 2.35% | 0.05% | ||
|
Central Queens
|
1.66 times the citywide rate
|
Fresh Meadows/Hillcrest | 11366 | 2.98% | -0.10% |
| Hillcrest/Jamaica Estates/Jamaica Hills | 11432 | 2.77% | 0.08% | ||
Neighbors near area hospitals report an increase in ambulance calls, though we have not yet been able to get exact data. DOH indicated earlier that cases have been increasing at two Brooklyn hospitals, and reminds that there is a lag between infection and hospitalization.
Yesterday city officials urged residents in affected areas to get tested, and announced two block long testing sites with capacity for 500 people a day each in Southern Brooklyn. Starting today, October 2, there will be one COVID19 block party site at Avenue U and W13th Street by Spumoni Gardens, and another at Kings Highway and E15th Street by the Kings Highway subway stop.
In other news – President Trump tweeted last night he also has been infected by COVID19. We wish him and all those who are suffering from this awful virus a speedy and complete recovery.