STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Another surge of more than 1,100 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases over one day on Staten Island has put the borough back atop of the list of cases per capita in the city.
At the same time, 31 more Staten Islanders had succumbed to the disease by Friday morning, the borough’s second highest total over a 24-hour period, city Health Department data showed.
As of 10:15 a.m. Friday, an additional 1,148 borough residents had tested positive for the coronavirus compared to Thursday morning. The new cases hiked the borough’s overall number to 6,979.
Based on that total and 2018 Census data projections, 1,466 of every 100,000 Staten Islanders have tested positive for the virus.
Staten Island accounts for 7% of the city’s coronavirus cases.
The Bronx has the next highest infection rate per capita among the five boroughs with 1,415 cases per 100,000 residents.
The latest fatalities increase Staten Island’s total to 260.
The Advance/SILive.com, which had previously used data from the borough’s two hospital systems, is now using the city’s numbers.
The fatality total does not include individuals who have died at home but were not tested for the coronavirus.
Citywide, the number of coronavirus deaths hit 5,065 as of Friday morning. That number represented a jump of 639 from Thursday morning’s figure of 4,426.
Friday’s increase, however, wasn’t as high as prior days.
The spikes come amid what has thus far been a peak week for reported coronavirus cases and deaths in the city.
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Despite the rise in cases, total hospitalizations here declined for the second straight day.
As of Friday morning, the number of patients receiving coronavirus treatment on the Island stood at 491, a drop of 16 from Thursday morning’s tally of 507, according to information from the borough’s two hospital systems.
Previously, there had been a decrease of 47 patients from Wednesday into Thursday.
Richmond University Medical Center had 170 coronavirus patients as of Friday morning, a dip of 24 from Thursday morning’s tally of 194, Alex Lutz, a spokesman said. Of those patients, 59 are in the Intensive Care Unit.
At Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), 321 patients were receiving treatment – 264 in the Ocean Breeze campus and 57 in the Prince’s Bay facility, said Jillian O’Hara, a spokeswoman.
That figure represented an increase of eight patients from Tuesday’s total of 313.
Also, on a positive note, the number of patients treated for the coronavirus and released from borough hospitals continued to grow, reaching 779 as of Friday morning.
There were 36 additional discharges at SIUH, raising the total there to 636, O’Hara said.
At Richmond University Medical Center, 143 patients had been treated and released as of Friday morning, boosting the prior day’s tally by 11, said Lutz.
Meanwhile, the city saw another significant increase in coronavirus cases throughout the five boroughs.
There were 93,414 cases as of 10:15 a.m. Friday, a spike of 9,041 from the same time Tuesday.
Men account for 54% of the overall cases, while women comprise 46% of the cases, said the data.
As for fatalities, the Health Department has thus far investigated 4,108 deaths, with 957 pending.
The vast majority of probed fatalities – 4,010, or 97.6% – occurred in patients with underlying medical issues, said the agency.
Underlying conditions include diabetes, lung disease, cancer, immunodeficiency, heart disease, hypertension, asthma, kidney disease and gastro-intestinal/liver disease, said the Health Department.
CASES PER CAPITA
With regard to confirmed coronavirus cases per capita, Queens, which had long paced the city, now occupies third place.
In that borough, 1,290 residents per 100,000 have tested positive. Queens has the highest total number of coronavirus cases per borough, 29,409, comprising 31% of the city’s tally.
Manhattan retains the lowest infection rate among the boroughs with 742 per 100,000 residents testing positive.
There have been 12,088 positive cases in Manhattan, which accounts for 13% of the five-borough tally, according to the city’s Health Department.
Brooklyn, the most populated borough, has the fourth-lowest rate of infection per 100,000 residents - 954.
Brooklyn’s 24,635 cases are the second highest among the five boroughs.
Brooklyn accounts for 26% of the city’s reported coronavirus cases, Health Department statistics show.