Story at a glance
- About 1 in every 50 Manhattan residents contracted COVID-19 last week, according to city health department data.
- A recent surge in new cases has pushed the overall positivity rate in the city past 19 percent.
- Health officials are reporting a seven-day average of more than 20,000 new cases a day.
Roughly 1 out of every 50 Manhattan residents tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to a data crunch from NBC New York, exemplifying the omicron variant’s ability to spread quickly.
The equivalent of 2,012 out of every 100,000 residents in the borough have contracted the virus over the past seven days, the outlet reported.
New cases have spiked in the city since the first case of COVID-19’s newest variant, omicron, was detected in The Big Apple on Dec. 2.
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) revealed in a press conference earlier this month that the first case of the omicron variant found in the city was linked to a vaccinated Minnesota man who had traveled to New York City for a conference at the Javits Center.
Over the past 28 days, the overall COVID-19 positivity rate across the five boroughs has jumped to 22.49 percent with city health officials reporting a seven-day average of more than 21,000 confirmed or probable cases of the virus, according to city health department data.
Hospitalizations continue to remain low in New York City with health officials reporting 332 admissions on Dec. 26.
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