BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 4 OV. 26-DEC. 2,2021 BTR
COVID cases tick up; spikes
in Castle Hill, Wakefi eld
On Nov. 19, the U.S. opened COVID-19 booster shots to all adults aiming to ward off a winter
surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays.
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
COVID cases and hospitalizations
continue to climb in New York City as
people return to the familiar pre-pandemic
levels of traveling in and out of
the state during the holiday season.
The progress New Yorkers have
made with COVID-19 vaccinations efforts
— 72.7% of Bronxites have received
at least one dose of the vaccine
entering Wednesday — is allowing for
a slow recovery in tourism and travel.
City-run rapid testing at travel locations
such as John F. Kennedy International
Airport helped detect a positive
COVID-19 case for Claremont native
Maurice Saunders whose holiday plans
to visit Detroit were interrupted, as a
result.
“It’s funny because I’m vaccinated
and wanted to head back home but COVID
was like gotcha,” said Saunders,
who is 29. “But thanks to the vaccine,
I’m not feeling like I need to be laid up
in the hospital. But losing my sense of
taste and being stuck … for the holidays
has been diffi cult.”
In some areas of the Bronx, COVID
case spikes took place in Wakefi eld’s
10470 and Castle Hill’s 10473 ZIP codes,
with increases of 15.2 cases per 100,000
and 14.5 cases per 100,000 over the past
seven days, respectively. The Bronx
has averaged 193 new confi rmed cases
Photo REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
per day entering Wednesday. On average,
more than 6,000 people a day are
now testing positive for COVID-19 in
New York State, rates last seen in the
spring. The number of New Yorkers out
of every 100,000 population testing positive
is up 57% versus two weeks prior.
When asked where he thought he
had contracted the virus, Saunders
said he wasn’t sure, but after he tested
positive he did text everyone he had
seen in the last 72 hours.
Hospitalizations are also on the
rise again, as are deaths — just like a
year ago, though at a much lower level
thanks to vaccinations. As of Sunday,
the state reported that 78% of all New
Yorkers ages 18 and up were fully vaccinated,
and 66% of all residents when
including children.
On Nov. 19, the U.S. opened COVID
19 booster shots to all adults and
took the extra step of urging people 50
and older to seek one, aiming to ward
off a winter surge as coronavirus cases
rise even before millions of Americans
travel for the holidays.
The Bronx had the lowest transmission
rates in the Five Borough region
and is averaging one death per week,
according to state health data. Those
numbers are in sharp contrast from the
100-deaths per day totals that were being
reported in March 2020.
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