Bronx hits omicron peak as hospitals begin to fi ll up
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 4 JAN. 28-FEB. 3, 2022 BTR
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BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
After a three-week surge in COVID
19 cases, fueled by the highly contagious
omicron variant that led to
multiple virus hot spots in the central
Bronx, the northernmost borough saw
key COVID-19 metrics nose-dive by
roughly half over the past week.
Entering Monday, the Bronx’s COVID
case counts were at 205.2 cases
per 100,000 residents, the lowest totals
since Dec. 26, 2021, when the borough
began seeing a major winter spike in
cases. Almost every indicator that the
city’s health department uses to track
COVID-19 shows that the sharp uptick
in infections in New York City connected
to the omicron variant continues
to drop just as dramatically.
The Bronx’s seven-day positivity
rate hovers around 18%, a total that
is trending downward from its high
of 38% positivity mark just two weeks
ago. The clusters of COVID hot spots
in Parkchester, Castle Hill and Morris
Park that formed in the beginning
of 2022 have all but dissipated, as all
three locales saw COVID numbers drop
to around the city’s median total of 84
cases per 100,000 this week.
The Bronx’s downward trend in
cases is also good news for Bronx hospitals,
which have seen its ICU spaces
rise to a critical 86% capacity — an increase
of 2% over the past week — with
154 adult ICU beds occupied by COVID
patients. The data, compiled from the
latest facility-level data for hospital
utilization from the U.S. Department
of Health & Human Services, suggests
Bronx hospitals cannot absorb a wave
of new COVID infections without substantial
surge capacity.
Over the last week, the Bronx has
seen its COVID-related death toll rise,
as the borough averaged 22 deaths over
the past seven days — all 22 deaths
were confi rmed to be among the unvaccinated,
according to state data. In the
Bronx, 82.9% of residents have received
at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines
and 990,242, or 69.8%, are fully
vaccinated.
The fi ve boroughs of the New York
City region appear in a much better
place now than it did just two weeks
ago, when the seven-day positivity rate
exceeded 32% and 23 communities saw
rates eclipse 40%.
As of Jan. 21, the city’s seven-day
positivity rate was down to 17.67% and
falling, and not one neighborhood in
the Five Boroughs had a rate exceeding
30%. There is relief being felt by state
leaders, such as Democratic Gov. Kathy
Hochul0 who identifi ed downward
trending metrics such as a 12% dip in
COVID-19 hospitalizations on Friday.
Hospital admissions in the state’s
deepest regions such as New York
City, Long Island and the mid-Hudson,
which also have the highest adult full
vaccination rates per capita in the state
— declined by 20% at minimum over
the last seven days, the governor said.
Those three regions are fueling the
overall statewide decrease (-20.8%) on
that metric over the last three weeks.
“We are below 10% positivity rate
for the second day in a row. This is extraordinary
progress,” Hochul said on
Saturday. “As we continue to see numbers
trend downward, let’s also continue
to do the right thing. Wash your
hands, get the vaccine if you haven’t
already, get the booster dose, and wear
a mask. We will continue to see this
downward trend in other parts of the
state soon.”
U.S. residents can also begin to receive
free COVID-19 at-home testing
kits from the federal government, the
Biden administration’s latest testing
plan to alleviate long lines. Home test
shortages have made it diffi cult for
Americans to get checked for the omicron
variant that is still spiking across
other parts of the nation.
According to the new COVIDtests.
gov website that launched this week,
those who have had diffi culty ordering
the tests online or “need additional support,”
can call 1-800-232-0233 or TTY
1-888-720-7489.
The phone number also serves as
the COVID vaccination hotline, which
has been in use for several months.
Case counts in the Bronx have started to
drop across the board after a winter surge
left ICU beds across the borough at dangerously
high levels. Photo | Adrian Childress
COVID Corner
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