STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The total number of suspected coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths on Staten Island remained the same in the past 24 hours, while 12 new cases of the disease were reported here, city Health Department data show.
As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, the coronavirus is believed to have claimed the lives of 994 borough residents, according to the most recent figures published.
The fatalities include 821 Staten Islanders with confirmed coronavirus cases, an increase of one from Monday afternoon’s total. In addition, 173 deaths were in the “probable” category, down one from 24 hours earlier.
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 13,426 confirmed coronavirus cases on Staten Island since the pandemic’s outbreak, the data said.
That total had been 13,414 cases at the same time on Monday.
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Citywide, there were 201,123 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Tuesday afternoon.
The number represented a spike of 293 from Monday’s tally of 200,830.
Across the five boroughs, the death toll was 21,649 on Tuesday afternoon, up 42 from the 21,607 fatalities recorded 24 hours earlier.
The deaths consist of 16,892 individuals who were confirmed coronavirus cases, along with 4,757 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 the plus side, a total of 3,131 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 2,006 patients as of Tuesday, said Jillian O’Hara, a spokeswoman.
Richmond University Medical Center has treated and released 1,125 patients, Alex Lutz, a spokesman, said.
Meanwhile, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the borough rose by two.
On Tuesday morning, 94 patients were being cared for on Staten Island.
The total is a fraction compared to just under two months ago when hospitalizations peaked.
On April 8, 554 Islanders were hospitalized with the coronavirus.
At SIUH, 62 patients were being treated Tuesday morning, an uptick of one from Monday’s total. All the coronavirus patients are at the Ocean Breeze campus, said O’Hara. No coronavirus patients are in the Prince’s Bay facility, she said.
Richmond University Medical Center was caring for 32 coronavirus patients as of Tuesday morning, also up one from Monday, Lutz said.
With respect to testing, the data show 2,820 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, 3,176 residents per 100,000 have tested positive. The Bronx has had 45,480 cases.
Queens has the third highest rate of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city, with 2,697 residents per 100,000 testing positive. There have been 61,467 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 – 2,150.
Brooklyn’s 55,519 cases are the second most among the five boroughs.
Manhattan has the lowest infection rate in the city with 1,543 per 100,000 residents testing positive.
There have been 25,131 positive cases in Manhattan, the data said.