Queens Seeing 'Significant Increases' In Coronavirus Cases

QUEENS, NY — NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi on Monday warned that Queens is seeing "significant increases" in COVID-19 cases and infection rates.

Queens' coronavirus infection rate now exceeds 6 percent, and hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise, Chokshi told the Queens Borough Board during a Monday night briefing.

"I know everyone is tired of this virus, but unfortunately the virus is not yet tired of us," Chokshi told the board, which is chaired by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and includes the City Council's Queens representatives.

Chokshi repeated the familiar guidance for Queens residents to stay home if feeling sick, wash their hands, keep their distance, wear a mask and get tested for the coronavirus — even as New York City hospitals start administering vaccines.

Rollout of the vaccine will prioritize 27 neighborhoods hit hardest during the pandemic, including Corona and Jamaica in Queens, Chokshi said.

Front-line health care workers who are exposed to the coronavirus while caring for patients will be the first to get vaccinated.

"We now have a light at the end of the tunnel in the vaccine," Chokshi said, "but that doesn’t make the tunnel any less perilous."

Queens became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring.

More than 95,000 Queens residents have contracted COVID-19 over the past nine months, and 6,000 have died, according to the Queens Borough President's Office.