STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The borough marked its lowest increase in deaths related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) during the prior 24-hour period as recorded since late March, city Health Department data shows.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the disease had claimed the life of one more Staten Islander, according the most recent figures published.
The previous 24-hour low of two fatalities had been recorded several times -- most recently between May 23 and 24, and between May 24 and 25, Advance/SILive.com tabulations show.
All told, 972 Staten Islanders are believed to have succumbed to the disease.
The fatalities include 802 borough residents with confirmed coronavirus cases, an increase of one from Tuesday’s posted data. The “probable” category remained at 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.
Also as of Wednesday afternoon, there have been 13,260 confirmed coronavirus cases on Staten Island since the pandemic’s outbreak, the data said.
That total had been 13,221 cases on Tuesday afternoon, making Wednesday’s tally a jump of 39.
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Citywide, there were 197,351 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Wednesday afternoon.
The number represented a spike of 728 from Tuesday’s tally of 196,623.
Across the five boroughs, the death toll had reached 21,362, up 48 from the 21,314 fatalities recorded 24 hours earlier.
The deaths consist of 16,610 individuals who were confirmed coronavirus cases, along with 4,752 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 3,018 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 1,933 patients as of Wednesday, said Jillian O’Hara, a spokeswoman.
Richmond University Medical Center has treated and released 1,085 patients, Alex Lutz, a spokesman, said.
At the same time, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the borough dropped by eight.
On Wednesday morning, 107 patients were being cared for on Staten Island; the prior morning’s tally was 115.
By comparison, those daily figures had peaked seven weeks ago with 554 Islanders being hospitalized on April 8.
At SIUH, 76 patients were being treated Wednesday morning – all at the Ocean Breeze campus, said O’Hara. No coronavirus patients were in the Prince’s Bay facility, she said.
The overall tally reflected a dip of five from Tuesday’s total.
Richmond University Medical Center was caring for 31 coronavirus patients as of Wednesday morning, down three from Tuesday, Lutz said.
With respect to testing, the data show 2,785 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.
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, 3,117 residents per 100,000 have tested positive. The Bronx has 44,646 cases.
Queens has the third highest rate of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city, with 2,654 residents per 100,000 testing positive. There are 60,475 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 – 2,100.
Brooklyn’s 54,249 cases are the second most among the five boroughs.
Manhattan has the lowest infection rate among the boroughs with 1,512 per 100,000 residents testing positive.
There have been 24,619 positive cases in Manhattan, the data said.