STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The coronavirus (COVID-19) has claimed the lives of three more Staten Islanders in the past 24 hours, while 16 new confirmed cases of the disease were reported, data show.
As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, 1,018 borough residents are believed to have succumbed to the virus, according to the most recent figures published.
That total had been 1,015 on Tuesday and 1,014 on both Monday and Sunday.
The fatalities include 841 Staten Islanders with confirmed coronavirus cases, an uptick of three from Tuesday.
In addition, 177 deaths were in the “probable” category, the same number going back each day to Sunday.
A death is classified as “probable” if the decedent was a city resident who had no known positive laboratory test for the coronavirus, but the death certificate lists “COVID-19” or an equivalent as a cause of death.
A Health Department source said the figures reflect totals as of when they are reported to the agency and not when the deaths occur.
Also as Wednesday afternoon, there have been 13,626 confirmed coronavirus cases in the borough since the pandemic’s outbreak, the data said.
That total had been 13,610 cases at the same time on Tuesday.
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Throughout the five boroughs, there were 205,011 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Wednesday afternoon.
The number represented a jump of 435 from Tuesday’s tally of 204,576.
Citywide, the death toll had reached 21,960 on Wednesday afternoon, a bump up of 42 from the 21,918 fatalities recorded 24 hours earlier.
The deaths consist of 17,255 individuals who were confirmed coronavirus cases, along with 4,705 others whose deaths were deemed as “probable” COVID-19 cases.
A large majority of the deaths in confirmed coronavirus cases which were investigated by the city thus far have occurred in patients with underlying medical issues, said the Health Department.
Underlying conditions include diabetes, lung disease, cancer, immunodeficiency, heart disease, hypertension, asthma, kidney disease and gastro-intestinal/liver disease, said the Health Department.
On the plus side, a total of 3,231 coronavirus patients have been treated at and released from the borough’s two hospital systems since the pandemic’s outbreak.
Staten Island University Hospital’s (SIUH) two campuses have discharged 2,073 patients as of Wednesday, said Jillian O’Hara, a spokesperson.
Richmond University Medical Center has treated and released 1,158 patients, Krista Desiderio, a spokesperson, said.
At the same time, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the borough declined by 10.
On Wednesday morning, 75 patients were being cared for on Staten Island.
The total is a fraction compared to two months ago when in-patient numbers peaked.
On April 8, 554 Islanders were hospitalized with the coronavirus.
At SIUH, 42 patients were being treated Wednesday morning, a dip of six from 24 hours earlier, said O’Hara. No coronavirus patients are in the Prince’s Bay facility, she said.
Richmond University Medical Center was caring for 33 coronavirus patients as of Wednesday morning, down four from Tuesday, Desiderio said.
With respect to testing, the data show 2,862 of every 100,000 Staten Islanders have received positive results for the coronavirus, according to 2018 Census data projections and the Health Department’s Wednesday afternoon tally.
Staten Island’s infection rate is second highest among the five boroughs.
Officials, however, stress the examinations do not necessarily reflect the full spread of the virus.
The Bronx’s infection rate still tops the city.
In that borough, 3,231 residents per 100,000 have tested positive. The Bronx has had 46,271 cases.
Queens has the third highest rate of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city, with 2,746 residents per 100,000 testing positive. There have been 62,589 cases in that borough, the second-most populous.
Brooklyn, the borough with the largest population, has the fourth-lowest rate of infection per 100,000 residents – 2,198.
Brooklyn’s 56,763 cases are the second most among the five boroughs.
Manhattan has the lowest infection rate in the city with 1,575 per 100,000 residents testing positive.
There have been 25,655 positive cases in Manhattan, the data said.