STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – One more borough resident has succumbed to the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the past 24 hours, while there were 20 new confirmed cases of the disease, city Health Department data show.
The death comes one day after there had been no reported coronavirus-related fatalities on Staten Island between Sunday and Monday afternoons.
As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, the pandemic is believed to have claimed the lives of 1,015 borough residents, according to the most recent figures published.
That total had been 1,014 on the previous two days.
The fatalities include 838 Staten Islanders with confirmed coronavirus cases, an uptick of one from Monday.
In addition, 177 deaths were in the “probable” category, the same number as on Sunday and Monday.
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 of Tuesday afternoon, there have been 13,610 confirmed coronavirus cases in the borough since the pandemic’s outbreak, the data said.
That total had been 13,590 cases at the same time on Monday.
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Citywide, there were 204,576 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Tuesday afternoon.
The number represented a jump of 323 from Monday’s tally of 204,253.
Across the five boroughs, the death toll had reached 21,918 on Tuesday afternoon, a bump up of 41 from the 21,877 fatalities recorded 24 hours earlier.
The deaths consist of 17,203 individuals who were confirmed coronavirus cases, along with 4,715 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 a positive note, a total of 3,220 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 2,068 patients as of Tuesday, said Jillian O’Hara, a spokeswoman.
Richmond University Medical Center has treated and released 1,152 patients, Alex Lutz, a spokesman, said.
At the same time, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the borough declined by five.
On Tuesday morning, 85 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, 48 patients were being treated Tuesday morning, a dip of four 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 37 coronavirus patients as of Tuesday morning, down one from Monday, Lutz said.
With respect to testing, the data show 2,858 of every 100,000 Staten Islanders have received positive results for the coronavirus, according to 2018 Census data projections and the Health Department’s Tuesday 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, 3,224 residents per 100,000 have tested positive. The Bronx has had 46,169 cases.
Queens has the third highest rate of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city, with 2,741 residents per 100,000 testing positive. There have been 62,466 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 – 2,193.
Brooklyn’s 56,633 cases are the second most among the five boroughs.
Manhattan has the lowest infection rate in the city with 1,571 per 100,000 residents testing positive.
There have been 25,588 positive cases in Manhattan, the data said.