STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Nine more Staten Islanders have succumbed to the coronavirus (COVID-19) as of Friday morning, making the prior 24 hours the deadliest in the borough since the pandemic’s outbreak.
For the second straight day, Staten Island surpassed its highest single-day death rate related to the coronavirus. The previous high had been seven deaths on Wednesday into Thursday.
Thus far, the disease has claimed the lives of 37 borough residents.
There have been 31 deaths in Staten Island University Hospital’s (SIUH) system, an increase of eight since Thursday, said Jillian O’Hara, a hospital spokeswoman.
Six people have died in Richmond University Medical Center, Alex Lutz, a hospital spokesman, said. There had been five deaths in the hospital as of Thursday.
While specific information about the Staten Island fatalities is not available, citywide, 97% of people who died have had underlying illnesses such as diabetes, lung disease, cancer, immunodeficiency, heart disease, hypertension, asthma, kidney disease, and GI/liver disease.
Overall, there had been 366 deaths in the city as of 8:30 a.m. Friday morning, said the New York City Department of Health.
Hospitalizations on Staten Island due to the coronavirus raised slightly.
There are 200 confirmed coronavirus patients being treated in the borough’s two hospital systems.
That number represents an increase of 11 from the 189 patients being treated on Thursday.
There are 145 hospitalized patients in SIUH – 116 at the Ocean Breeze campus, with an additional 29 in the Prince’s Bay facility, said O’Hara.
Richmond University is caring for 55 patents, including 11 in the Intensive Care Unit, Lutz said.
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STATEN ISLAND CORONAVIRUS RATE REMAINS THIRD IN NYC
As of 8:30 a.m. Friday, there were 1,440 positive coronavirus cases on Staten Island, the Health Department said.
While it marks an increase of 164 cases from Thursday, that number represents a slight downtick from a spike of 192 cases from Wednesday into Thursday.
Based on positive tests, which officials have stressed does not necessarily reflect the full spread of the virus, 302 of every 100,000 Staten Islanders have tested positive for the virus, according to 2018 Census data projections and the Health Department’s Friday morning data.
That number reflects a jump of 34 residents per-100,000 since Thursday.
Staten Island accounts for 6% of the city’s 25,573 coronavirus cases.
Total city coronavirus cases increased by 2,461 from Thursday, yet that figure represents the lowest daily increase since Sunday into Monday.
Among the five boroughs, Staten Island has the third-highest rate of positive coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents after previously having the highest rate in the city two days ago.
The highest rate of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city remains in Queens, with 360 residents per 100,000 testing positive. That borough has 8,214 cases total, accounting for 32% of the city’s total.
The Bronx, which has recently seen cases sharply rise, has a rate of 325 infections per every 100,000 residents — the second-highest in the city, despite being the borough with the second-lowest population.
The Bronx has 4,655 total cases, which equates to 18% of those in the city, Health Department data shows.
Manhattan has the fourth-highest rate of coronavirus cases with 275 per 100,000 residents testing positive. There have been 4,478 positive cases in Manhattan, which also accounts for 18% of the city’s total cases, according to the city’s Health Department.
Despite having the largest population among the five boroughs, Brooklyn has the lowest rate of infection per 100,000 residents at 261. However, the borough has the second highest case total at 6,750, or 26% of the city’s overall total, Health Department statistics show.
VENTILATORS
Citing privacy concerns, Lutz, the Richmond University spokesman, declined to say how many ventilators the hospital has and is currently using.
But Lutz did say Richmond University is trying to obtain at least 45 more ventilators as quickly as possible through the state and the Greater New York Hospital Association.
The spokesman thanked the borough’s elected officials, the city and state Departments of Health and the hospital association for their efforts to help Richmond University secure extra ventilators.
Without providing numbers, O’Hara, the SIUH spokeswoman, said officials are confident there is currently an adequate amount of ventilators and other supplies on hand to protect patients and staff.
“We continue to order more to prepare for a surge,” she said in an email. “As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in the region, Northwell Health has been able to increase the number of ventilators it has in its network by 50%.”
SIUH is part of the Northwell Health network.
With testing stepped up, recent data shows less than half of those examined for the coronavirus on Staten Island have tested positive.
For the vast majority of the borough, between 40.85% and 46.34% of those examined have tested positive, according to data from the United Hospital Fund in New York City.
A swath of northwestern Staten Island has shown smaller level of positive tests – between 30.12% and 40.85%, the data said.
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