#NYC COVID-19 numbers rising in ‘cluster zones,’ positive rate dips statewide

The statewide COVID-19 positivity rate has fallen slightly, but infection rates are still rising in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.

The test positivity rate dipped to 4.99 percent statewide, from 5.4 percent on Thursday.

At least 10,661 people tested positive in New York state Friday, while 69 state residents died of the virus. 

But in Cuomo’s designated “yellow zone” in Brooklyn, the positivity rate shot up to 8.53 percent Friday from 8.07 percent the day before. In Staten Island’s “orange” zone, the rate Friday was 7.58 percent, up from 7.2 percent Thursday. In Kew Gardens, Queens, the rate rose to 4.8 percent from 4.68 percent. There was also a slight increase in Bronx East, to 5.57 percent, and a dip in Bronx West, to 5.35 percent.

“I understand New Yorkers may be feeling COVID fatigue, especially now that we have entered the holiday season and the first batch of vaccines is a couple weeks away, but if there was ever a time to double down and be vigilant, it’s now,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“What’s troubling is we are seeing a new trend where the majority of cases are traced to households and private gatherings.”

Cuomo said he is focused on making sure the state’s hospitals have enough capacity, and renewed criticism of the federal government’s vaccine plan, which he said overlooks “the black, brown and poor communities,” and doesn’t provide necessary funding to administer the plan, despite the state having a $7.5 million stash available.