#COVID-19 testing rate exceeds 10 percent in 54 NYC zip codes

COVID-19 is soaring across every New York City borough, far exceeding parameters that the governor’s office promised would result in neighborhood lockdowns as recently as October.

City data shows that 54 zip codes have a positive test rate north of 10 percent, a drastic increase from the week before Thanksgiving, when 40 of NYC’s 177 zip codes saw positive test rates exceed 4 percent.

Those rates are still far below their spring highs, but much higher than on Oct. 21, when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he would lockdown any neighborhood where more than 4 percent of tests came back positive for the virus.

After numbers soared across the state following the holidays, health officials adopted a new policy to designate “red zones” based on hospital capacity metrics.

Meanwhile, cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the virus continued their upward trend this week, with an average of 67 New York City residents dying each day, up from just 6 when the governor announced the new strict lockdown measure in October, according to city data.

The latest statistics show that most swaths of the city are home to zip codes that are above 10 percent, with the exception of Manhattan below Washington Heights and Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods along the East River.

South Brooklyn has been hit especially hard by soaring positivity rates, with the highest zip code in the city encompassing Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach and Sheepshead Bay.

In the 11235 zip code, 17.6 percent of those tested came back positive for COVID-19 over the last week.

From Sunset Park to Borough Park to Coney Island, eight surrounding zip codes all saw testing rates exceeding the benchmark as well.

In the Bronx, Hunt’s Point’s 10474 had the worst testing percentage at 12.2.

More than a dozen zip codes covering the areas between Concourse to Soundview and as far north as the Yonkers border to City Island tested higher than 10 percent.

Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park’s 11419 zip fared the worst in Queens with a 15.2 positive testing rate. Nearby zips 11417 and 11421 were also plagued by double digit positive testing rates.

Staten Island’s worst faring zip codes were on opposite shores, with New Dorp’s 10304 and Tottenville’s 10307 both seeing positivity rates of just over 10 percent.

The highest testing zip code in Manhattan was Inwood’s 10034, with a 10.3 positivity rate.

According to state data, the highest rate of positive testing by county is in the northern suburbs, where Rockland and Orange are seeing surges at a higher percentage than any borough as a whole.

More than 33,763 New Yorkers have been killed by COVID-19, according to the state health department.