New York City's health department continue to raise alarms about communities in south Brooklyn and northeast Queens that have escalating COVID-19 positivity rates. And those positive cases are now translating into hospitalizations.
Many of the communities have large Orthodox Jewish populations. Three Orthodox men have died at Maimonides Hospital in south Brooklyn over four days, according to a source close to the community.
"While the most expansive growth is generally occurring in these areas in Brooklyn and Queens, viruses do not respect boundaries and unchecked case growth in one part of the city can affect others," the NYC Department of Health said in a press release. "We are starting to see early warning signals in neighborhoods surrounding the ZIP codes above, particularly in southern Brooklyn and northeast Queens."
The south Brooklyn cases—referred to by the city as the "Ocean Parkway Cluster"—have positivity rates well above the city's average of 1.08% and over 3%, NYC's citywide threshold for closing schools. The neighborhoods include:
- Gravesend/Homecrest (6.42%)
- Midwood (5.05%)
- Borough Park (3.9%)
- Bensonhurst/Mapleton (3.45%)
- Gerritsen Beach/Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay (3.34%)
- Flatlands/Midwood (3.1%)
The Queens communities with high rates are:
- Kew Gardens (4.18%)
- Edgemere/Far Rockaway (4.05%)
The DOH is also monitoring Williamsburg, which has a lower positivity rate, 1.55%, but the increase in cases has been higher than in other parts of the city.
The health department noted in a press release sent on Friday that they were concerned about "an uptick in the number of hospitalized patients in at least one hospital in southern Brooklyn. With COVID-19, increases in hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions generally follow an increase in cases."
On Tuesday night, the city announced that they were monitoring these neighborhoods; by Thursday night, the city revealed they would start inspecting schools and threatened to roll back the sizes of indoor gatherings (to no more than 10 people) and close non-essential businesses if cases continue to increase. The DOH announced on Friday they would fine schools $1,000 if they do not comply with things like wearing face masks; social distancing; cooperating with contact tracers; and developing protocols for opening and closing schools with COVID cases.
Public health officials have been worried about the spread of COVID-19 in the Orthodox community, which was hit hard by the pandemic. Hundreds of Hasids died in the early weeks, and the police dispersed large funerals where mourners were not socially distancing. However, the community has felt unfairly targeted, especially after Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized one funeral, which apparently had been coordinated with the NYPD.
The men who died at Maimonides Hospital died "within hours of arriving at the hospital too sick to be saved," according to the NY Post. A source told the Post that the men were not all elderly, adding, "There’s rampant COVID denialism and misinformation abound in the community. People are not getting tested and are refusing care even when sick. This is deeply distressing."
Members of the Orthodox community in Borough Park were seen largely without masks this week; there are some beliefs in the Orthodox community that they have achieved herd immunity because of all the cases in the spring. However, during a press conference in Gravesend on Friday, Dr. Mitchell Katz, president of the city's public health system, emphasized, "We know that no area of New York City has herd immunity. Herd immunity occurs when more than 80 percent of people are immune and that protects everyone."
The press conference was interrupted by Orthodox men, who refused to wear masks, accused one public health official of being a "Nazi storm trooper," and made racist remarks about Black people. One of the men said Katz, who is Jewish and grew up in Ocean Parkway, was lying, "You can’t say stuff without proof. Aren’t you embarrassed what you’re doing to your brothers and sisters?"
While the city is intensifying outreach efforts—speaking to synagogues and medical providers in the community; robocalls; placing ads in newspapers; mask distribution; broadcasting messages in Yiddish and English—lawmakers faulted the city for ignoring the community and their needs until the last moment.
"This may be the most precarious position with COVID-19 we have experienced in months, and we must immediately take action to protect our communities," Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city's Health Commissioner, said.
