STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The coronavirus (COVID-19) has claimed the lives of 28 more borough residents as the number of confirmed cases of the disease on Staten Island continues to ascend, city Health Department data shows.
As of 6 p.m. Thursday, 636 Islanders had succumbed to the disease, boosting Wednesday evening’s corrected total of 608, according to the agency’s most recent data.
The Health Department had initially posted Wednesday’s p.m. death toll at 707, but later reduced that number by 99.
Thursday’s fatality total includes 515 borough residents with confirmed coronavirus cases, a rise of 15 from Wednesday’s revised count of 500. Thirteen more cases were added to the “probable” category, raising that tally to 121.
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.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Staten Island jumped by 335 from Wednesday to Thursday, an increase of 3.1%
There were 10,917 cases in the borough as of Thursday evening. There had been 10,582 at the time same on Wednesday.
Citywide, there were 146,139 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Thursday evening, an increase of 4,385, also 3.1%, from Wednesday’s figure of 141,754.
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The death total across the five boroughs continues to mount.
There were 15,848 deaths in the city by Thursday evening, a jump of 437 from Wednesday evening’s tally of 15,411 said Health Department data.
The fatalities consist of 10,746 individuals who were confirmed coronavirus cases, along with 5,102 others whose deaths were deemed as “probable” COVID-19 cases.
More than 99% of the 7,959 confirmed coronavirus fatalities 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 positive side, the number of patients treated in Staten Island’s hospitals for the coronavirus and released keeps growing.
As of Friday afternoon, a total of 1,586 patients had been discharged since the pandemic’s outbreak, according to information from the borough’s two hospital systems.
Staten Island University Hospital’s (SIUH) two campuses have discharged 1,289 patients, said Jillian O’Hara, a spokeswoman.
Richmond University Medical Center has treated and released 297 patients, Alex Lutz, a spokesman, said.
At the same time, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients continues to decline.
As of Friday morning, 348 patients were being cared for on Staten Island, a decrease of 19 from the prior morning’s tally of 367.
At SIUH, 230 patients were receiving treatment Friday morning – 193 in the Ocean Breeze campus and 37 in the Prince’s Bay facility, said O’Hara.
The overall number reflected a decline of eight from Thursday morning’s total.
Richmond University Medical Center was caring for 118 coronavirus patients as of Friday morning, a dip of 11 from Thursday’s total. Of those patients, 42 are in the Intensive Care Unit, down from 46 the previous day.
With respect to testing, the data shows 2,293 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 data.
That makes Staten Island’s infection rate second among the five boroughs.
Staten Island accounts for 7% of the city’s total coronavirus cases.
Officials, however, stress the examinations do not necessarily reflect the full spread of the virus.
The Bronx’s infection rate is slightly greater than Staten Island’s and is currently the highest in the city.
In that borough, 2,295 residents per 100,000 have tested positive. The Bronx’s 32,862 cases account for 22% of the overall total.
Queens has the third highest rate of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city, with 1,988 residents per 100,000 testing positive. That borough, the second-most populous, has 45,313 cases, most in the city and comprising 31% of the overall total.
Brooklyn, the heaviest populated borough, has the fourth-lowest rate of infection per 100,000 residents – 1,499.
Brooklyn’s 38,727 cases are the second highest among the five boroughs.
Brooklyn accounts for 27% of the city’s reported coronavirus cases, Health Department statistics show.
Manhattan retains the lowest infection rate among the boroughs with 1,121 per 100,000 residents testing positive.
There have been 18,252 positive cases in Manhattan, comprising 12% of the five-borough tally, the data said.