Brutal Flu Season Hits Almost 6K New Yorkers, Data Show

NEW YORK CITY — As novel coronavirus dominated the news cycle, New York City faced a brutal flu season, data show.

Nearly 6,000 flu New York City dwellers and more than 14,000 state residents had the flu the week that ended Feb. 15, New York State data show.

That week, Queens saw the most cases with 1,746 cases, followed by Brooklyn with 1,556, The Bronx with 1,533, Manhattan with 799, and Staten Island with 186, data show.

Flu season began began on Oct. 5 with 87 reported flu cases, the highest number reported in the past four years, and continued to break recent records.

At the flu season's peak, the week that ended Feb. 8, New York City saw 17,233 cases, data show.

The flu is not New York City's problem alone. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show flu activity is especially high in New York City, Puerto Rico and 44 states.

The CDC has recorded 29 million flu-related illnesses and 280,000 hospitalizations from the flu so far this season.

About 16,000 people have died, 105 of whom are under the age of 18, CDC data show.

Meanwhile, as of Feb. 21, not one case of novel coronavirus has been reported in New York City and the national count is 15 cases.