Elmhurst Hospital (QueensPost)
April 7, 2020 By Allie Griffin
The Corona section of Queens is one of the many hot spots across the five boroughs where the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a hold, according to the latest neighborhood data released by the Department of Health.
Three main epicenters have emerged — with one in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn; another in the Norwood neighborhood in the Bronx; and the third being the greater Corona area in Queens.
Corona remains the hardest hit zip code with 1,446 residents having tested positive through to the end of Sunday, when the city last gave a breakdown by zip code. However, the second highest was in Borough Park, where 1,136 residents had tested positive.
Ground zero for the virus continues to be the greater Corona area — with Elmhurst accounting for 963 cases and Jackson Heights 806.
However, the Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Borough Park, where large Hasidic and orthodox Jewish communities live, are close rivals.
For instance, the area adjacent to Borough Park is Midwood, where 946 residents have contracted the virus, according to the latest data from Sunday. Additionally, 789 Bensonhurst residents have tested positive.
In Williamsburg, 859 residents have been infected, according to the data.
Many residents in these neighborhoods of Brooklyn have been subject to criticism. In the past week, the NYPD has had to break up a number of orthodox Jewish funerals, as residents disobeyed the social distancing order.
The Bronx has its own epicenter in the 10467 zip code which covers parts of Olinville, Norwood and Allerton — 941 residents there have contracted COVID-19. Nearby East Bronx accounted for 795 infections.
Many other neighborhoods in each of the boroughs reported upwards of 600 or 700 cases of the total 64,955 cases citywide confirmed as of 5 p.m. on April 5 — the latest zip code data available.
The total cases has since swollen to 72,324 Tuesday morning.
The Health Department first released a zip code breakdown of cases last week after repeated requests from the media and the public.
The data, however, is imperfect — since about 7.5 percent of the people who tested positive for the virus were listed as having an unknown zip code. City Hall didn’t immediately respond to a question asking why the number of unknowns is so high.
The City has also not released the ethnic and racial data on coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. However, the mayor said that data would be released this week.
The map by zip code shows that low-income areas — particularly communities of color — have been impacted the greatest by the virus.
The data, for example, on the Rockaway Peninsula reflects that.
Far Rockaway — where 21.4 percent of the largely Black and Hispanic population lives below the poverty line — has 713 COVID-19 cases. Conversely, Breezy Point, on the western portion of the Rockways— where just 3.1 percent of the largely white population lives below the poverty line — has only 34 confirmed cases.
Likewise, Corona, the hardest hit community, is mostly Hispanic (75 percent) and more than 20 percent of its population lives below the poverty live.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the map shows that there is a health disparity in coronavirus cases. He agreed that low-income minority communities are impacted at a greater rate.
“This disease is affecting people disproportionately in lower income communities, in communities that have had more health problems historically and in communities of color,” de Blasio said at a press conference this morning. “The extent of that disparity we are still trying to understand.”
He said the City will release the ethnicity data this week, which will give a better idea of the disparities.
“There is no question in my mind,” he said. “There is a disparity dynamic here, it is real, it is meaningful.”
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PLEASE CALL 311 TO GIVE COMPLAINTS TO SHUT DOWN STREET VENDORS. CORONA VIRUS VIOLATION ALERT ::
FOR THE PAST 9 YEARS There’s a gathering of more than 50 people at a fruit stand located in front of 96-15 e Roosevelt Ave. Queens N.Y. 11368 ground floor. This fruit stand obstructs the sidewalk for pedestrians to walk by there’s no room. Street vendors are allowed 10 feet by 5 feet of space with all merchandise kept either on or under the stainless steel table. This fruit vendor has expanded beyond the stainless steel table’s, This fruit stand has 5 aisles of crates full of merchandise & each aisle contains 40 boxes of fruits and vegetables on top of crates on the ground floor. This fruit stand has a mobile vendors permit license another violation because it became effective two weeks ago no mobile vendors are allowed till the quarantine is over. This fruit stand also has the wrong permit their suppose to have a STREET VENDORS PERMIT not a MOBILE FOOD VENDORS PERMIT another violation their committing to their permits. This fruit stand has its regular number of employees working which is 5, their suppose to reduce their employees to 50% which they haven’t another violation. This same fruit stand owner has 2 more stands right under the train station from junction blv (7line), and 2 more stands in front of SPRINT located in 37-50 Junction Blvd, Queens, NY 11368 and all of these fruit stands SHARE THE SAME MOBILE VENDOR PERMIT that’s another violation. PLEASE CALL 311 TO GIVE COMPLAINTS TO SHUT DOWN THESE STREET VENDORS. In times of crisis like this season of the CORONA VIRUS these people should STOP selling and STAY HOME because all these fruit stand positions attract a lot of GATHERING’S and reality is that many more people from all ages are going to end up getting SICK FROM CONSUMING THESE UNHYGIENIC PRODUCTS. The conditions of this fruit stand is NOT SANITARY AT ALL.The fruit’s and vegetables of the super markets are better quality and are healthier although it costs a little more. This street vendor is not included in the list of essential jobs, but their money hungry that they never respect the laws and do what they want. It’s at its best interest for the queens community to shut down this street vendor fruit stand. It is NOT desirable to have this fruit stand in the community to help combat the spread of the CORONA VIRUS among groups of people. THE U.S.A NOW LEADS THE WORLD WORST EPIDEMIC CENTER OF CONFIRMED CORONA VIRUS CASES SPECIALLY IN NEW YORK CITY, QUEENS 11368. All Street Vendor’s are infecting and making the community more ill because dirt and dust and who knows what else falls on these products due to the fact that many of these fruit stands are under the rails of the 7 line train and this type of merchandise are exposed outdoors in the street’s from 7am – 10pm every day. Take a test, leave something dumped under the train rails and leave that object there for 15 hours and you will see how dirty the object will be full of dirt and dust at night. Please have your health in consideration when buying items being sold in the streets under train tracks, its very unsanitary and unhealthy to eat anything being sold under the train tracks due to the fact a lot of dirt/fluff/trash falls off the train tracks and train stations & this is the same dirt that lands on these fruits and vegetables and these are the same contaminated fruits and vegetables ya buy, go home and cook, & give to your children to consume/eat. Many of these fruits stands are family members and they only care about making money regardless of the circumstances or law’s.All of These fruit stand booths are not helping everyone to stay away from each other to avoid becoming infected with the virus. MY LOCAL PRECINT 115 DOESNT DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS SITUATION⚠️. Since 2011 This Fruit Stand take’s up too much sidewalk space with infested vegetables and fruits full of germs, causing an increase of sidewalk garbage. This fruit stand keep’s sidewalks dirty with carton boxes and garbage creating a BIGGER EPIDEMIA in our community #11368 of RODENTS/FLIES/INSECTS. Fruit vendors litter sidewalk’s & street’s with piles of carton boxes being loaded down from their commercial trucks every day. Fruit vendors also have their commercial trucks parked all day on 97st Roosevelt ave, Queens, N.Y 11368 from 7am-11pm when their supposed to be parked the most 2-3 hours on a bussy avenue where ambulances and fire trucks and the NYPD CAN’T pass by easily due to too much COMMERCIAL TRUCK TRAFFIC.
#STAYHOME #CORONAVIRUSVIOLATION #NYCCOUNCIL #NYPD #CONSUMERAFFAIRS #NYC #Queens #CORONAVIRUS #NYCMAYOR #NEWYORKNEWS #NY1 #UNIVISION #SPRINT #TELEMUNDO #UNIVISIONNOTICIAS #Fox5 #w11News #PIX11 #PIX11NEWS #NBC #NBCNEWS #ABCNEWS #ABC #CBSNEWS #CBS #QUIEDATEENTUCASA #NATIONALGUARD #NATIONALGUARDNY #Nychealthcommissioner #askmymayor #District13th #StateSENATOR #streetVendorProject #STATESENATE #JessicaRamos #JosePeralta #GoodMorningAmerica #ICYMI #stateSenatorJessicaRamos #NORTHSTARFUND #13inAlbany #councilmemberfranciscomoya #seenin13
Please remove all MOBILE FOOD VENDORS/ STREET VENDORS for a cleaner and presentable environment and community!!!!!!
It couldn’t be the large soccer and volleyball games going on
Are these people practicing
social distancing?
Community of color? Thats every community of ny. Whites are minorities in this day and age. Especially queens.
I know it’s hard to believe that people who crossed an international border legally and live in the shadows would have worse health than out in the open citizens.
Its people who work stocking shelves at supermarkets who can’t work from home. Also Hasidic Jews who don’t think the rules apply to them and have the influence to not get prosecuted.
People that had mild enough symptoms to ride it out at home were likely not even tested. The only way we’ll ever know how many had it and recovered is when the antibody tests are given.