COVID cases rise in Rego Park

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Residents of Kew Gardens Hills line up for free face masks at the Mauro playground on May 5. The area is once again seeing a surge in new COVID cases. AP Photo/ Mary Atlaffer

Residents of Kew Gardens Hills line up for free face masks at the Mauro playground on May 5. The area is once again seeing a surge in new COVID cases. AP Photo/ Mary Atlaffer

It’s one of three Queens neighborhoods seeing a clear surge in new cases

By David Brand

Add Rego Park to the list of Queens neighborhoods seeing a disturbing spike in new COVID-19 cases.

The New York City Department of Health released new data Tuesday showing that the rate of positive COVID tests in Rego Park’s zip code 11374 had reached an average of 2.64 percent over the past 14 days, more than doubling the citywide rate over that span.

Nearby Kew Gardens’s zip code 11415 has a 3.31 percent positive test rate and Far Rockaway/Edgemere’s 11691 is at 4.91 percent, according to 14-day averages. Health Department officials say the two-week averages better reflect trends compared to one-day data. 

The city has established two mobile testing sites at Painter’s Playground and Queens Borough Hall, which will open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day until Oct. 2.

“We encourage all New Yorkers to get a COVID19 test,” said Community Board 6 members in a tweet Tuesday. Rego Park and Kew Gardens are both covered by CB6.

New York City’s daily positive case rate Tuesday was 3.25 percent, the highest daily rate since early June. The seven-day positive case rate remains at 1.38 percent, slightly higher than in recent weeks, according to city data.

A collection of South Brooklyn neighborhoods with large concentrations of Orthodox Jewish and Eastern European residents are driving a citywide increase as individuals there shun masks and social distancing, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. The positive case rate in Borough Park is 6.23 percent; in Gravesend, it’s at 6.92 percent. They are among nine neighborhoods with rates above 3 percent.

“The daily number is being very much affected by the challenges we're seeing in those nine zip codes and we must address those intensely,” de Blasio said. “So, for the first time in months, you're going to see a daily number over three percent — and, obviously, everyone is concerned about that.”

“That is something we all have to work on together to address and something that says to us we have to be on high alert to make sure we fight back this challenge,” he added.

Despite the fatal risk of COVID-19, people throughout Queens have continued flouting social distancing rules and mask guidelines. Police on Friday broke up a 300-person wedding inside Woodside’s Royal Elite Palace Caterers.

Late the next night, sheriff’s deputies sent 192 people home from a party inside a club on Kissena Boulevard in Flushing. The club's owner and an employee were arrested and issued desk appearance tickets.