Omicron Wave Saw More Than 100 Deaths In Crown, Prospect Heights

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — COVID-19 claimed more than 100 lives around Crown and Prospect Heights during the two-month surge of the contagious omicron variant, city records show.

A total of 118 New Yorkers living in the two neighborhoods' five zip codes died from COVID-19 in late December and through Jan. 25, according to city data.

The ZIP code seeing the most fatalities was 11213 — which covers the eastern portion of Crown Heights — which lost 36 residents in that span.

The city also reports 619 residents in the five ZIP codes have been hospitalized with COVID-19 during the omicron wave, according to city data.

But data also shows marked improvement in the battle against the contagious variant.

During the seven-day period that ended Monday, 359 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Crown and Prospect Heights' ZIP codes: a positivity rate of 3.3 percent.

While that's higher than the figures seen in the neighborhood during most of 2021, it is a sharp drop from the previous few weeks.

In the last week of December, for example, the positivity rate in the same ZIP codes was nearly 24 percent, with around 5,400 residents testing positive.

After an initial period of cautious optimism when rates began dropping in early January, leaders are now talking openly about the encouraging trends.

"Not only is New York City winning in the fight against COVID-19, but we are bringing even more help right to New Yorkers' front doors to continue beating this pandemic," Mayor Eric Adams said in a recent statement, referring to a new effort to deliver antiviral pills to residents.

Similar trends are holding across New York state, whose positivity rate dropped below 10 percent last month for the first time since December.

Elsewhere in the U.S., hospitals have been overwhelmed by a surge in patients caused by omicron, and deaths have continued to rise even as overall cases appear to slow.

Meanwhile, a majority of Crown and Prospect Heights residents have gotten vaccinated — greatly reducing their risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 — though the neighborhood remains less vaccinated than many nearby areas.

In two of Crown Heights' ZIP codes, 11213 and 11233, only around 67 percent of residents have gotten at least their first dose, among the lowest rates in all New York City ZIP codes.

That is compared to Prospect Heights', where more than 93 percent of residents have gotten their first dose. In western Crown Heights, 11216 and 11225, the vaccination rates stand at 81 and 76 percent, respectively.

Here's a look at the latest numbers for all of the neighborhood's ZIP codes:

• 11238
• 7-day percent positive: 3.9%
• People tested (reported to date): 2,382
• New people positive (reported to date): 93
• 11216
  • 7-day percent positive: 4.03%
  • People tested (reported to date): 2,211
  • New people positive (reported to date): 89
• 11213
  • 7-day percent positive: 2.89%
  • People tested (reported to date): 2,110
  • New people positive (reported to date): 61
• 11233
  • 7-day percent positive: 2.57%
  • People tested (reported to date): 2,339
  • New people positive (reported to date): 60
• 11225
  • 7-day percent positive: 2.97%
  • People tested (reported to date): 1,886
  • New people positive (reported to date): 56

Nick Garber contributed to this report.