NEW YORK (PIX11) —In four of the five New York City boroughs, people are urged to wear masks indoors and on public transportation due to a spike in COVID cases, according to the CDC.
The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island are in orange, meaning high-risk levels, while Manhattan is in yellow, the medium-risk level, according to the latest CDC data.
The data shows that Queens has seen almost a 16% increase in positive cases through Friday, while the Bronx and Brooklyn are close to 14%. Staten Island is at about 12%.
Long Island is seeing a similar surge, prompting the CDC to recommend mask-wearing indoors and on public transit in Suffolk and Nassau counties. Nassau and Suffolk each saw a 13% spike in positive cases, according to the CDC data.
In addition to COVID, New York is facing a wave of flu and RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, cases that have put a strain on New York hospitals. The tridemic — also referred to as “tripledemic” — is so concerning that Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday urged the federal government to be at the ready to lend a hand with rising cases of RSV, which is characterized by respiratory woes.
NYU Langone’s Brooklyn branch and the borough’s Woodhull Medical Center reported there were no intensive care beds available.
The timing of the tridemic is in part due to the lockdown during the pandemic, when there were no RSV and flu cases, according to Dr. Arun Chopra of NYU Langone’s Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital. The lockdown likely caused some people to have lower immunity and be more susceptible to viral infections, the doctor said.
“There are probably more people that are more sensitive to RSV, which allowed it to pick up,” Chopra said.