STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Four more borough residents are believed to have succumbed to the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 24 hours, while the number of confirmed cases of the disease rose by 41, city Health Department data show.
The deaths come two days after Staten Island had reached a grim milestone - surpassing 1,000 deaths related to the coronavirus.
That toll, which had hit 1,006 on Friday, increased to 1,010 by Saturday afternoon, according to the most recent figures published.
The fatalities include 833 Staten Islanders with confirmed coronavirus cases, up three from Friday afternoon’s total. In addition, 177 deaths were in the “probable” category, up 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 1 p.m. Saturday, there have been 13,558 confirmed coronavirus cases on Staten Island since the pandemic’s outbreak, the data said.
That total had been 13,517 cases at the same time on Friday.
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Citywide, there were 203,430 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Saturday afternoon.
The number represented a spike of 601 from Friday’s tally of 202,829
Across the five boroughs, the death toll stood at 21,815 on Saturday afternoon, a jump of 33 from the 21,782 fatalities recorded 24 hours earlier.
The deaths consist of 17,113 individuals who were confirmed coronavirus cases, along with 4,702 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.
As of Saturday, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the borough increased by two from the day prior.
On Saturday afternoon, 87 patients were being cared for on Staten Island, up from 85 on Friday.
The total is a fraction compared to just under two months ago when in-patient numbers peaked.
On April 8, 554 Islanders were hospitalized with the coronavirus.
At Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), 49 patients were being treated Saturday afternoon, a decrease of one from Friday’s total, according to SIUH spokesman Christian Preston.
Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) was caring for 38 coronavirus patients as of Saturday afternoon, an uptick of three from Friday, according to RUMC spokesman Alex Lutz.
With respect to testing, the data show 2,847 of every 100,000 Staten Islanders have received positive results for the coronavirus, according to 2018 Census data projections and the Health Department’s Saturday 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, 3,207 residents per 100,000 have tested positive. The Bronx has had 45,926 cases.
Queens has the third highest rate of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city, with 2,726 residents per 100,000 testing positive. There have been 62,126 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 – 2,178.
Brooklyn’s 56,262 cases are the second most among the five boroughs.
Manhattan has the lowest infection rate in the city with 1,563 per 100,000 residents testing positive.
There have been 25,450 positive cases in Manhattan, the data said.