COVID-19 activity increasing in New York City, alongside upward trends across much of the country, according to NYC Health and the CDC.
The New York City Health Department’s latest respiratory illness dashboard shows COVID-19 accounting for 0.24% of emergency department visits during the week of Aug. 1, up from 0.18% in the previous week. The share increased again to 0.28% the following week.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated as of Sept. 2 that COVID-19 infections were growing or likely growing in 47 states. Infections were declining or likely declining in zero states, while three states showed no change.
The data offer a snapshot of respiratory-virus activity in New York City, including Brooklyn, as the city continues to track COVID-19 alongside influenza and respiratory syncytial virus.
The increase in emergency department visits indicates greater COVID-19 activity, but the figures alone do not establish the severity of illness or the overall strain on the city’s health care system.
The CDC also cautions that its epidemic-trend measure is designed to show the direction of COVID-19 transmission. It does not measure how severe infections are or how much pressure the virus is placing on hospitals and other health care facilities.
New Yorkers can continue to follow the city’s respiratory illness dashboard as updated data become available. The dashboard tracks COVID-19, flu and RSV, providing a continuing look at respiratory-virus activity across the city.
