Flu Widespread In NYC As More Than 3K Cases Reported In A Week

NEW YORK CITY – More than 3,000 New Yorkers have been confirmed sick with the flu in a single week, marking a substantial rise in the number of cases in the city.

And the number is likely much higher as many cases don't get reported to health experts, officials said.

In the week ending December 21, the most recent that data is available, 3,010 cases were confirmed. That's nearly three times the 1,130 that the state's Department of Health recorded as sick just two weeks earlier.

The rise has caused the department to classify the virus as widespread.

Most cases in the city were in The Bronx, which counted 964 patients – a 69 percent increase on the week before. Brooklyn had 873, a 30 percent rise; Queens 783, up 64 percent; Manhattan rose 11 percent to 288; and Staten Island 102, up 89 percent.

Across the state, there were 5,301 cases, up by 62 percent.

Flu season mainly encompasses the period from October through May. Over the last three seasons, 20 children have died from flu, state officials said. Each season averages about 18,352 flu-related hospitalizations in the state.

So far this year, there has been one flu-related death in the state, a child from upstate Monroe county.