The latest figures from the city’s Health Department show a continued growth of positive coronavirus tests in five of the six southern Brooklyn ZIP codes that combine to form a COVID-19 “cluster.”
All six concerning ZIP codes in the borough, along with three others in Queens, have experienced more than seven consecutive days of 3 percent positivity rates for COVID-19 tests, earmarking them for increased vigilance on the part of city and state regulators.
The new data, which was released late on Tuesday morning, comes after Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered all public and private schools in those six ZIP codes to close on Oct. 6 for an undetermined amount of time.
Cluster breakdown
According to the latest Census data, the six ZIP codes within the southern Brooklyn cluster encompass more than 550,000 residents, and five of them have seen an increase in positive test rates on Tuesday compared with the previous day. Only Borough Park’s 11219 has seen a decrease in cases among the six problematic neighborhoods — although that area still has the highest positivity rate in the borough.
| ZIP Code | Neighborhood |
% Positivity Rate |
% Change From Monday |
| 11210 |
Flatlands/ Midwood |
6.56% | +0.42% |
| 11223 |
Gravesend/ Homecrest |
8.27% | +0.22% |
| 11230 |
Midwood/ East Midwood |
7.46% | +0.18% |
| 11229 |
Gerritsen Beach/ Sheepshead Bay |
5.07% | +0.38% |
| 11204 |
Bensonhurst/ Mapelton |
6.75% | +0.28% |
| 11219 |
Borough Park |
8.22% | -0.14% |
Second tier areas
Meanwhile, the Department of Health also announced it’s monitoring a second tier of five other ZIP codes in Brooklyn where COVID-19 rates are increasing slowly.
Most troublingly, the 11235 area — which encompasses Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay — logged a 4.12 percent positivity rate on Tuesday, although that is down 0.01 percent from the previous day. That area, which has seen an above-3 percent rate for the previous six days, could be subject to a lockdown order from the city and state if the positivity rate remains above 3 percent tomorrow.
The areas being watched in the second tier are the following:
| ZIP Code | Neighborhood |
% Positivity Rate |
% Change From Monday |
| 11235 |
Brighton Beach/ Sheepshead Bay |
4.12% | -0.01% |
| 11218 |
Kensington/ Windsor Terrace |
2.99% | -0.99% |
| 11205 |
Bedford-Stuyvesant/ Clinton Hill |
1.92% | -0.01% |
| 11211/11249 |
Williamsburg/ East Williamsburg |
2.25% | +0.02% |
| 11213 |
Crown Heights/ Stuyvesant Heights |
2.41% | +0.12% |
| 11234 |
Bergen Beach/ Marine Park/ Mill Basin |
2.74% | +0.26% |
“You do not want to see these restrictions in your community. You can do something about it. You don’t want to see small businesses closed in your neighborhood. You can do something about it,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio at a Tuesday press briefing. “Right now, there is time to turn things around. That’s why we’re providing this information to the public in an urgent manner.”
