STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Twenty-six new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported on Staten Island in the past 24 hours, while three more borough residents are believed to have succumbed to the disease, city Health Department data show.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been 13,221 confirmed coronavirus cases on Staten Island since the pandemic’s outbreak, according the most recent figures published.
That total had been 13,195 on Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the disease is suspected to have claimed the lives of 971 Staten Islanders.
The fatalities include 801 borough residents with confirmed coronavirus cases, an increase of five from Monday’s posted data. The “probable” category decreased by two to 170.
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.
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Throughout the five boroughs, there were 196,623 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the citywide death toll had reached 21,314.
The fatalities consist of 16,565 individuals who were confirmed coronavirus cases, along with 4,749 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, the number of coronavirus patients treated at and released from the borough’s two hospitals since the pandemic’s outbreak is approaching 3,000.
The total now stands at 2,996.
As of Tuesday, Staten Island University Hospital’s (SIUH) two campuses have tended to 1,922 patients, said Jillian O’Hara, a spokeswoman.
Richmond University Medical Center has treated and released 1,074 patients, Alex Lutz, a spokesman, said.
At the same time, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the borough dropped by two.
On Tuesday morning, 115 patients were being cared for on Staten Island; the prior morning’s tally was 117.
By comparison, those daily figures had peaked seven weeks ago with 554 Islanders being hospitalized on April 8.
At SIUH, 81 patients were being treated Tuesday morning – all at the Ocean Breeze campus, said O’Hara.
Richmond University Medical Center was caring for 34 coronavirus patients as of Tuesday morning, Lutz said.
With respect to testing, the data show 2,776 of every 100,000 Staten Islanders have received positive results for the coronavirus, according to 2018 Census data projections and the Health Department’s Friday afternoon data.
Staten Island’s infection rate is second among the five boroughs.
Officials, however, stress the examinations do not necessarily reflect the full spread of the virus.
The Bronx’s infection rate remains the highest in the city.
In that borough, 3,107 residents per 100,000 have tested positive. The Bronx has 44,500 cases.
Queens has the third highest rate of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city, with 2,646 residents per 100,000 testing positive. There are 60,293 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 – 2,091.
Brooklyn’s 54,000 cases are the second most among the five boroughs.
Manhattan has the lowest infection rate among the boroughs with 1,505 per 100,000 residents testing positive.
There have been 24,508 positive cases in Manhattan, the data said.