BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
While the pandemic fi gures
to play a lesser role in
this year’s holiday season,
COVID-19 case counts remain
troublingly high, and the situation
is getting worse.
Public offi cials urged New
Yorkers in November 2020 to
avoid large family gatherings
for Turkey Day, fearing a dramatic
surge in COVID-19 cases
in the weeks after Thanksgiving,
which would spiral further
during the December holidays
— a prediction that came
true, with deadly results.
But now, as millions of
Americans have received the
vaccine, and fears begin to
subside, cheerful Brooklynites
prepare to sit around the table
with friends and family once
more as the Thanksgiving
spirit rolls into town with jolly
jingle bells not far behind.
Still, the risk of COVID-19
infection remains, particularly
among the unvaccinated,
and cases are growing
as the weather gets colder and
more events move indoors —
and Brooklyn has lagged behind
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other boroughs in the
effort to prevent the spread of
COVID-19.
Heading into Thanksgiving
week, 25 ZIP codes across
the Five Boroughs have sevenday
positivity rates above
3 percent, according to the
city’s Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene.
Thirty-fi ve neighborhoods
saw 50 or more new COVID-19
infections between Nov. 10-16.
The Williamsburg ZIP
code of 11211 led the entire
city in the number of new
COVID-19 cases last week,
with 131. That was followed
closely by 11385 in Queens
with 127 cases, then by 11206
in South Williamsburg with
90 cases, and 11214 of Bath
Beach, Bensonhurst, and
Gravesend with 85 cases.
After that, the 11201 area
code that covers Brooklyn
Heights and Dumbo saw 81
cases, matching Bay Ridge’s
11209, which saw 81 cases.
Transmission rates, which
track the spread of COVID-19
across the city, are also ticking
upward. The citywide rate, as
of Nov. 14, stood at 99.94 cases
per 100,000 people, up from
82.81 per 100,000 reported a
week earlier.
Every borough, except for
the Bronx, has a higher transmission
rate than the citywide
number, with Staten Island
leading the way at 139.24 cases
per 100,000 people.
But even with more New
Yorkers getting infected with
COVID-19, offi cials remain
encouraged that hospitalizations
and deaths remain stable
and low. The hospitalization
rate as of Nov. 14 was 0.64
per 100,000 residents.
Most of the COVID-19 infections
requiring hospitalization
in New York City continue
to involve unvaccinated residents.
The hospitalization rate
for unvaccinated New Yorkers,
as of Nov. 7, was 14.41 per
100,000 residents. By contrast,
the hospitalization rate for vaccinated
An emergency worker receives the COVID-19 vaccine. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
New Yorkers infected
with breakthrough COVID-19
cases was just 1.41 per 100,000.
Vaccines continue to provide
robust protection from
COVID-19s, but plenty of New
York City neighborhoods continue
to struggle with low vaccination
rates.
Eleven communities have
60 percent or fewer residents
having received the fi rst dose
of the COVID-19 vaccine, with
Borough Park atop that list
with just 49 percent of residents
with one dose and 46 percent
fully vaccinated.
Other low-vaxxed areas
include the 11692 ZIP code in
Queens at 54 percent with one
dose, and the Brooklyn areas
of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Clinton
Hill, and Fort Greene
with 56 percent, Midwood at
57 percent, and Flatlands at
57 percent.
HOLIDAY SPIKE
Brooklyn lags other boroughs as COVID cases rise
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