Coronavirus Cases Spike in Brooklyn, De Blasio Concerned

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed Brooklyn’s sharp increase in coronavirus cases during his daily media briefing. Brooklyn is leading the area with an uptick of over 20 percent of new cases city-wide.

The Mayor’s Office plans to mitigate these numbers with enforcement of CDC safety guidelines, which are implemented by the New York Forward program. It also plans to continue to educate affected areas to lessen exposure rates.

 “The situation, particularly in Southern Brooklyn is causing a lot of concern here. We have a lot to do because we’re seeing a serious uptick in multiple neighborhoods simultaneously and it’s something we have to address with a very aggressive public health effort right away,” de Blasio said. “And truly, I want to be clear, this is something that can be addressed. We have the tools and the measures, we need a lot of cooperation from all the neighborhoods involved. But I want to be clear this is something that requires urgent action.”

Despite the increase in Brooklyn, New York City successfully performed to halt the spread of the coronavirus so much that rates equated to less than one percent for consecutive weeks. The disease’s rates continued to increase from the end of June steadily, particularly in neighborhoods located in Brooklyn. Most areas in Brooklyn have seen a spike in cases as much as 2 percent. As of September 19, out of all the boroughs, neighborhoods of concern in Brooklyn account for 20 percent of all Covid-19 cases. Brooklyn alone experienced 2,414 new cases captured in this time frame. The neighborhoods which have seen the greatest jump in coronavirus cases include Ocean Parkway (including Midwood, Borough Park and Bensonhurst), the area of Edgemere-Far Rockaway, Williamsburg, and Kew Gardens.

Recently, other areas of the country have seen a surge in cases as well, raising concern for a possible resurgence this winter.