109 Harlemites Have Died During Omicron Wave, Data Shows

HARLEM, NY — Nearly two months after the contagious omicron variant began sweeping the city, COVID-19 rates in Harlem are moving in an unmistakable direction: down.

During the seven-day period that ended Monday, 611 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Harlem's eight ZIP codes: a positivity rate of 4.1 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 week ending Jan. 1, for example, the positivity rate in the same Harlem ZIP codes was 37.2 percent, with more than 8,500 residents testing positive

The downward trend also appears to be holding for hospitalizations and deaths — though much damage has already been done. From late December through Jan. 20, a total of 1,187 Harlemites have been hospitalized with COVID-19, according to city data — and 109 people died. The ZIP code seeing the most fatalities was 10029 in East Harlem, which lost 24 residents in that span.

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 statement last week, 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 large majority of Harlem residents have gotten vaccinated — greatly reducing their risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 — though the neighborhood remains less vaccinated than some nearby areas. In Harlem's least-inoculated ZIP code 10030, about 64 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, compared to 75 percent in East Harlem's 10035.