63 Wash Heights, Inwood Residents Have Died During Omicron Wave

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — Cases of COVID-19 are dropping steeply in Washington Heights, Inwood and around the city, but the contagious omicron variant still claimed dozens of lives in the two uptown neighborhoods.

A total of 63 residents of Washington Heights and Inwood's four ZIP codes died from COVID-19 between Dec. 31 and Jan. 27, according to data from the city.

The ZIP code seeing the most fatalities was 10032, which runs from West 153rd to 174th Streets, where 22 locals died in recent weeks from the virus, according to the city.

Here is the data for the other uptown areas:

• 10033: 11 COVID deaths
• 10040: 19 COVID deaths
• 10034: 11 COVID deaths

Meanwhile, 451 uptown residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19 during the omicron wave, which began in mid-December, according to data from the city.

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

The slightly over 2 percent seven-day COVID rate Upper Manhattan ZIP codes currently sit at is a steep fall from where Washington Heights and Inwood were around at the end of December, when the four ZIP codes in the two neighborhoods posted an average seven-day positivity rate of 19.74 percent for Dec. 19 through 25.

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.

Patch reporters Anna Quinn and Nick Garber contributed to this report.