One year of COVID, by the numbers
COURIER LIFE, MARCH 5-11, 2021 3
BY JESSICA PARKS
While the city solemnly
looks back at a tumultuous year
marred by the COVID-19 pandemic,
many are looking optimistically
toward the future
with vaccine distribution rapidly
picking up pace and case
counts beginning to fall.
Brooklyn, however, lags behind
the rest of the city in the
percentage of its population
who have received the lifesaving
jab, recording just 12 percent
of Kings Countians as
fully or partially vaccinated as
of March 2 — nearly one year
after City Hall announced the
fi rst known case of the coronavirus
in Brooklyn.
Manhattan and Staten Island,
by contrast, have fully or
partially inoculated 20 percent
of their populations. Queens
and the Bronx are also both
ahead of Brooklyn, with 15 and
14 percent of their residents receiving
at least one dose, respectively.
As the city’s most populous
borough, Brooklyn ranks third
behind Manhattan and Queens
in the total number of people
vaccinated, with roughly
307,000 partially or fully inoculated.
Queens leads in that category,
with roughly 325,900 residents
receiving at least one jab.
The virus resulted in 7,386
confi rmed deaths in Brooklyn,
according to city data — many
from the onset of the pandemic
when hospitals were overcapacity,
and an infl ux of bodies led
to funeral homes and medical
facilities scrambling to store
them.
At the peak of the pandemic
in April, when city statistics
show Brooklyn recording over
200 deaths a day, disturbing
reports arose from a Flatlands
funeral home where dozens of
bodies were found decomposing
inside U-Haul trucks that
were believed to have been
there for weeks.
Since the darkest days of the
pandemic last spring, coronavirus
related hospitalizations
and deaths have plummeted to
a fraction of what they were at
their highest, but heath offi cials
are still constantly monitoring
the data and warning people to
continue social distancing.
Brooklyn COVID rates are
on the decline following a jump
in cases that experts attributed
to close gatherings over the holiday
YEAR OF COVID-19
season.
Epidemiologists are warning,
however, that the decline
in cases may be temporary, as
newly discovered, highly-contagious
COVID-19 variants from
South Africa and the United
Kingdom have shown up in
New York City — potentially
leading to an explosion in cases
if the vaccine rollout doesn’t
speed up quick enough.
Virus transmission after the
holidays recorded more cases
in the borough than last spring
when hospitalizations and
deaths were at all-time highs —
peaking on Jan. 8 with a sevenday
average of 1,817 new cases.
However, the recent increase is
often credited to expanded access
to testing and more people
being tested compared to earlier
in the pandemic.
The current seven-day average
for the borough is still over
1,000 new cases per day as of
Feb. 27.
Neighborhoods in southern
and eastern Brooklyn suffered
the worst impact of the virus in
the borough, according to city
data— as both comprise areas
home to high senior and minority
populations more vulnerable
to the virus.
The 11239 zip code in East
New York records the highest
death rate in New York City
with 806 deaths per 100,000
people — nearly 200 more than
the next highest zip code. The
11224 zip code covering parts of
Brighton Beach, Coney Island
and Seagate records the thirdhighest
death rate citywide.
Southern Brooklyn’s 11235
zip code has regularly topped
the city for the highest percentage
of its population testing
positive for COVID, and places
fourth in the city for highest
percentage positive cumulatively
over the past year, city
statistics show.
On the one-year anniversary
of the fi rst known case
citywide, Mayor Bill de Blasio
shared a positive outlook for
the year ahead and suggested
that the city is nearing the end
of the pandemic if New Yorkers
continue to stay disciplined.
“We still have a fi ght ahead,
but this is the last great battle
against the coronavirus right
now. And right now, we are
fi ghting back, and we are winning.
We will win in this city because
people are doing the right
thing,” de Blasio said at a morning
press conference. “We’re
going to do this together. We’re
going to overcome this disease
once and for all.”
Eligible Brooklynites wait to receive a vaccine. Photo by Dean Moses