COVID-19 pandemic in New York City

The COVID-19 pandemic first started affecting New York City and its nearby areas in mid-February 2020.^[1] It wasn't until March, however, that the COVID-19 virus was confirmed in and around New York City.^[2]

On March 3, 2020, the New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the first recorded case of person-to-person spread in New York State was confirmed from a New Rochelle man. That man was working with a law firm in One Grand Central Place in Midtown Manhattan.^[3] Six days following that announcement, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced there were sixteen cases of the COVID-19 in New York City.^[4]

The virus later grew very fast. By Wednesday, March 25, 2020, over 17,000 cases were confirmed in and near New York City. By that time, there were almost 200 COVID-19 related deaths.^[5] At the time, the city was infected with a rate just under five times higher than the rest of the United States. Its cases were one-third of the total U.S. cases.^[6] Two days later on Friday, March, 27, in that same area, the infection rate went over 23,000. By that day, there were 365 deaths from the COVID-19 in New York City.^[7] Queens was the worst-affected Borough in the number of deaths. It had well over a third of total deaths. Most of the deaths from COVID-19 involved those who had underlying health problems, including although not limited to diabetes (either type), being overweight/obese, having heart disease, HIV/AIDS, dementia, down syndrome and certain cancers.^[8] During a twenty-four hour period on March 28 and 29, 2020, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 tripled in New York City. About 222 more death from the virus took place during that period. The overall deaths from the virus in that city was at 672. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the same city was at or near 30,765.^[9] On Tuesday, March 31, the first death of a child due to COVID-19 in New York City was recorded. At the exact same time, CNN news anchor Chris Cuomo, the brother of Andrew Coumo, tested positive for the virus.^[10]

New York City also saw its first case of animals testing positive for COVID-19. Just after the Bronx Zoo in that city closed in mid-March 2020, two Malayan tigers were showing signs of the virus near the very end of the month. The cats, Nadia and her sister Azul, had a dry cough and wheezing. Nadia and Azul both tested positive for the virus. Seven other large cats at the Bronx Zoo also showed signs of the COVID-19 virus. The areas around that zoo were hit with the virus in high and large numbers.^[11]

On Saturday, April 4, Governor Andrew Cuomo stated that the Chinese government arranged for the donation of just under 1,000 venilators being sent to the state of New York under foundations that were run by Joseph Tsai and Jack Ma.^[12] Another 140 ventilators were reported being sent by the state of Oregon.^[13]

On April 6, 2020, there were about 72,181 confirmed cases and at least 2,475 deaths. New York City accounted for just under 25% of the COVID-19 deaths in the United States.^[14] The following day, Gothamist reported the actual New York City death count as having been counted less than the actual numbers.^[15] Bodies of people who had died at home, around 280 every day, were being picked up by United States Army, the United States National Guard and the Air National Guard.^[16]

On May 10, Mayor de Blasio stated 38 children were found as having been affected by an inflammatory syndrome that might have been linked with an immune response from COVID-19.^[17] This condition was called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C); it was life-threatening. This condition was strongly similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome (two other conditions known to affect children and teenagers).^[18] One child had died in New York City. Another two child deaths were reported in New York State. An association with COVID-19 was not yet proven as of May 2020.^[19]

On Saturday, July 11, 2020, a seven-year-old German Shepherd named buddy died of COVID-19. The dog tested positive three months earlier when his guardians noticed he was having breathing problems. Buddy was the first dog in the United States to test positive for COVID-19.^[20]

1. ↑ "Most of the New York Coronavirus Cases Came from Europe". New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
2. ↑ "New York City, the U.S. Epicenter". National Public Radio. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
3. ↑ "A Midtown Lawyer Positive for Coronavirus is New York's 1st Case of Person-to-Person Spread". WNBC-4. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
4. ↑ "The Mayor:Sixteen Coronavirus Cases Confirmed in the City". NY1.com. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
5. ↑ "De Blasio Calls the Stimulus Deal's Treatment of New York City 'Immoral'". The New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
6. ↑ "New Orleans is Second Only to Seattle in COVID-19 Cases Per Capita". WWL-TV. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
7. ↑ "The New York City Death Toll Hits 365 as the Case Count Tops 23,000". The New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
8. ↑ "Certain Medical Conditions and Risk of Severe COVID-19 Illness". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
9. ↑ "The Coronavirus Updates". The Gothamist. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
10. ↑ "COVID-19 Deaths Climb in New York; Chris Cuomo Tests Positive". The Associated Press. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
11. ↑ "The Real Reason the Veterinarians Gave the Tiger a COVID-19 Test". Wired News. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
12. ↑ "Coronavirus Hot Spots are Emerging Near New York City". New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
13. ↑ "1,000 Ventilators are Arriving from China, Another 140 from Oregon". 140. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
14. ↑ "Cuomo Extends the New York Shutdown, Deaths in New Jersey Top 1,000". NBC New York. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
15. ↑ "The Staggering Number of New Yorkers Dying in Their Homes May Suggest the City is Undercounting the Coronavirus Fatalities". The Gothamist. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
16. ↑ "How Many People Have Actually Died Due to Coronavirus in New York". New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
17. ↑ "New York City Area Reports 38 Cases of Virus-Related Syndrome in Children". New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
18. ↑ "Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
19. ↑ "Coronavirus News: State Health Chief Details the Symptoms of the Mystery Syndrome in Children". WABC-TV Eyewitness News New York City. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
20. ↑ "The 1st Dog with COVID in the United States Dies". WABC-TV Eyewitness News. Retrieved July 17, 2021.