STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As the coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread throughout Staten Island, many have been affected.
Experts say that senior citizens and those with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of having a potentially-deadly outcome once contracting the virus.
The New York City Department of Health considers nine underlying illnesses that fall into that category.
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These illnesses are:
- Diabetes
- lung disease
- cancer
- immunodeficiency
- heart disease
- hypertension
- asthma
- kidney disease
- GI/liver disease
Those conditions represent a real threat for many Staten Islanders, as in several instances, the rates in our borough for such illnesses are higher than anywhere in New York City.
The heart disease death rate on Staten Island is higher than anywhere in the five boroughs, with 229 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the latest data from 2014.
However, that rate has been declining consistently since 2008, the data shows.
Nationwide, there were 167 heart disease-related deaths per 100,000 residents in 2014, the data shows.
The same year, more than 25% of Staten Islanders also reported having high blood pressure, which is also known as hypertension. The same percentage was reported in New York City overall.
Staten Island also had the highest cancer incidence rate in 2013, data shows.
Staten Islanders had a higher rate in all four of the most common cancers among New Yorkers: Female breast, colorectal, lung and bronchus, and prostate, according to the data.
When it comes to asthma diagnoses, our borough has the highest rate as well.
Overall, 5% of adults have asthma on Staten Island. The Bronx ranks second with 4.7% and Manhattan third with 4.1%.
The borough also has the highest death rate for chronic lower respiratory diseases (CLRD) with 28 fatalities per 100,000 residents.
In New York City overall, the rate for CLRD deaths is 20 fatalities per 100,000 residents.
Staten Island seems to do better with diabetes, where we hold the second-lowest percentage among the five boroughs with 8.6% of the residents being diagnosed with the disease.
HOW MANY COVID-19 DEATHS SHOW UNDERLYING CONDITIONS?
Of the 67 coronavirus-related deaths the New York City Department of Health has investigated on Staten Island, 44 had underlying conditions.
The other 23 fatalities still have an underlying condition determination pending, the data shows.
However, a more accurate count of fatalities released Wednesday from both Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) and Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) shows a total of 91 deaths on Staten Island.
Of the 91, 68 were at SIUH and 23 at RUMC, according to information from the borough’s two hospital systems.
Both the city and the hospitals’ data do not indicate the breakdown of each underlying condition.
A spokesman from RUMC told the Advance that that data is not currently publicly available due to privacy laws.
Christian Preston, a spokesman from SIUH, said that at this point it is too early to breakdown which underlying conditions are affecting people more.
“Like in any case, we document all patient data for valuable insights and analytics for all conditions, including COVID-19,” Preston said. “At this point, it’s too early to pinpoint any condition-specific trends in COVID-19, and even though we’re seeing a range of ages for treatment, the population being greatly affected is still the elderly and medically fragile.”
Preston added that once the hospital will compile that data, the city and state Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have to review it.
ARE OUR 9/11 HEROES AT HIGHER RISK?
After responding to the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, many first responders developed life-threatening illnesses that often resulted in respiratory conditions.
For firefighters and EMS workers who are still in the FDNY after developing those conditions, responding to emergencies like the coronavirus becomes especially risky.
“Fighting this invisible enemy that seems to attack the respiratory system with reckless abandon, these [members], normally heroes anyway, are really risking their lives," said Former FDNY Deputy Chief Richie Alles, director of 9/11 community affairs at Barasch McGarry, a law firm that focuses on settlements for 9/11 first responders.
Alles said that many firefighters are working 24 hours shifts, something that hadn’t happened since the first month in the aftermath of 9/11. After that, he said, the Fire Department created a detailed and organized scheduled for its members.
Additionally, the possibility of running out of protective gear is a “threat that is hanging over their head,” Alles added.
A shortage of materials is not just limited to masks but it also extends to ambulances.
This week in fact, Mayor Bill de Blasio, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro, NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell and FEMA Region II Administrator Tom Van Essen announced a partnership between FEMA and New York City, which will bring more than 250 ambulances and approximately 500 more EMTs to the city.
Alles, who also responded to Ground Zero, said of the long shifts and the possible lack of protective material, “it’s a big issue.”
“They are getting tired and out in the front lines and under a lot stress --we haven’t quite learned the lessons from 9/11,” he said. "We need a more coordinated response at all levels of government and the private sector and have access to that safety gear and protect the lungs of our first responders. That was a problem back in the early days of Sept. 11 and consequently we are still dealing with aftermath of that.”
Police officers who responded to Ground Zero are also at high risk should they contract the coronavirus and many of them “sacrificed their health the last time our city was in crisis," Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said in a statement to the Advance/SILive.com.
"We have been working with the NYPD to ensure that they and other police officers with special health concerns - as well as our pregnant members - receive accommodations that minimize their exposure, including the ability to work from home,” said Lynch. "Cops will continue to do our job, protecting our city on the front lines. We are simply asking the city to uphold its own obligation to protect our health and safety to the greatest extent possible.”
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