NYC quietly changes COVID risk assessment tools
/
As COVID-19 cases begin to again see a rise in New York City, the city’s health department has quietly changed the way it presents data on the virus to the public.
Read More
Meng recognizes teen artists from Queens
/
“The pandemic has provided me with the time and space to create art.”
Read MoreVaccine mandate comes to the courts
/
“The program will ensure the safest possible environment.”
Read More
Breezy Point’s COVID rates are city’s highest
/
“This is a microcosm of the bigger picture.”
Read MoreNew York State Bar ponders COVID vaccine mandate
/
“It is well established that rights are not absolute and public health authorities have the legal authority to mandate a vaccine if there is a significant threat.”
Read MoreJudge tests positive for COVID-19
/
A Queens Supreme Court, Civil Term judge tested positive for COVID-19 last week, internal court emails obtained by the Eagle show.
Queens families get a boost from NYC Kids Rise
/
“Because of the relationships and systems set up… we were quickly able to mobilize to get resources into the hands of families in our community.”
Read More
Troubled Kew Gardens hotel closed, manager charged
/
The manager of a bullet-riddled Kew Gardens hotel is facing misdemeanor charges.
Read MoreOzone Park added to Queens’ COVID yellow zone following positive test spike
/
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Ozone Park is now included in the state’s yellow zone after a spike in the positive COVID test rate. Photo by Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
By David Brand
New York state has added Ozone Park to Queens’ yellow COVID precautionary zone after a rise in positive COVID-19 test rates over the past two weeks.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the increasing positive test rates in the neighborhood prompted the new designation, even as rates fell elsewhere in Queens. Cuomo on Wednesday removed school and business restrictions inside cluster zones in Central Queens and Far Rockaway.
“We are also adjusting the Queens map to add in the Ozone Park neighborhood, which has seen an uptick in cases,” he said. “So, Ozone Park becomes a yellow zone and that is what it looks like.”
Cuomo and state COVID-19 Task Force member Gareth Rhodes said the state could not point to a specific reason for the increase in positive cases in the neighborhood, except that it was located near neighborhoods already included in the state’s watch list. The existing yellow zone was redrawn to include Ozone Park, he said. There was no known super-spreader event, Rhodes said.
A large swath of the borough is now classified as a yellow “buffer” zone in the state’s three-tiered restriction system, where different colors apply to different sets of rules.
Inside red “cluster” zones, schools and non-essential businesses were forced to close for two weeks, while gatherings inside houses of worship were capped at 10 people. Inside orange “warning” zones surrounding the clusters, some nonessential businesses were forced to close and capacity in houses of worship was capped at 25 people.
In the Central Queens cluster zone, concentrated in Forest Hills and Kew Gardens, the rate is now about 2.5 percent, down from about 4.7 percent Oct. 6, Cuomo said. In the Far Rockaway cluster zone, the rate dropped from 3.7 percent to 1.8 percent.
Cuomo said COVID test positivity rates had dropped below 3 percent for 10 consecutive days inside both locations, allowing the state to loosen restrictions.
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday praised efforts to drive down COVID-19 cases in Central Queens.
The state’s addition of Ozone Park to the yellow zone means the Department of Health and contract tracing corps will focus more resources in the area, de Blasio said.
“We'll get expanded outreach and testing into that area and we'll keep a close eye,” de Blasio said. “But overall, the situation in Queens we've seen some really good progress.”
The neighborhood lost a popular same-day testing site two weeks ago, the Queens Chronicle reported. Local leaders and Council candidates have called on the city and state to establish additional testing in Ozone Park.
Two weeks ago I fought to keep our #OzonePark testing center open at the library. I told @NYCHealthSystem, @NYCMayor and @NYGovCuomo that COVID would travel here and sadly I was right. We need a testing center back now. People need to have access to rapid testing.
— Felicia Singh for City Council (@FSingh_NYC) October 21, 2020
