Brooklyn ZIP Code Rises To Highest Coronavirus Rate In NYC: Data
BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn ZIP code's coronavirus infection rate has soared so high that it is now the highest in New York City, data shows.
The 11223 ZIP code — which has been on the rise in recent weeks — held the highest coronavirus infection rate between Nov. 29 and Dec. 5, the latest data available on the city's coronavirus data page.
Between those dates, 10.99 percent of the coronavirus tests in 11223, which covers Gravesend, came back positive. The rate was trailed closely by two Staten Island ZIP codes and City Island in the Bronx, which all clocked in above 10 percent, data shows.
It is unclear from the data, which updates almost daily, when the 11223 ZIP code first surpassed those in the top spot. The ZIP code had been less than a half percentage point from the top infection rate on the list between Nov. 22 and Nov. 28, when its positivity rate stood just under 8.5 percent.
The recent infection rates are a huge jump from where the Gravesend ZIP code was just a few weeks ago.
When the city brought back its daily release of coronavirus numbers by ZIP code in early November, 11223 stood 26th-highest in New York City with an infection rate of 3.02 percent.
(Want to keep up with the latest coronavirus news in Brooklyn? Subscribe to Patch for daily emails and alerts.)
Since then, coronavirus rates have risen across the five boroughs as state and city officials try to control a second wave of the virus. Most recently, Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that it is only a "matter of days" before new restrictions are imposed on the city to help curb the spread of the virus.
The city's overall seven-day positivity rate reached 4.94 percent on Tuesday, with 2,624 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, according to de Blasio.
The Gravesend ZIP code is not the only Brooklyn ZIP to be among the highest infection rates.
As of the latest numbers, 11229 in Sheepshead Bay, 11230 in Midwood and 11204 in Bensonhurst were also among the 20 ZIP codes with the highest infection rates. Nearly all of the other ZIP codes on the list are in Staten Island, data shows.
Southern Brooklyn was once under a red-zone lockdown put in place by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which he changed to a less-restrictive yellow zone in mid-November. Cuomo's "cluster zones" are decided not based on ZIP code, but on the state's coronavirus data, which often differs from the city's.
Check out all of New York City's coronavirus data by ZIP code here.
This article originally appeared on the Park Slope Patch
