Coronavirus in New York City

By Suhail Bhat, Sam Rabiyah and Rachel Holliday Smith

Last updated: October 20, 2023 at 3:19 PM

Since March 2020, THE CITY has been tracking COVID-19 in New York City. As the course of the virus — and the city’s response to it — have changed, so has what this database covers. Read more about how.

Snapshot

637 ↓10% patients hospitalized with COVID

↓56% drop in COVID levels found in wastewater

↑↓ change since last week

Data sources

NYS Department of Health: hospitalizations as of Oct. 5

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: wastewater surveillance as of Oct. 1

Wastewater Surveillance

The city tests wastewater from our sewage system and measures the amount of COVID-19 genetic material in it. Experts use trends in this data to estimate changes in COVID-19 cases.

COVID-19 Detection in NYC Wastewater

Avg. COVID-19 levels found across all 14 wastewater treatment plants

Notes and sources

"COVID-19 levels" is the measured number of SARS-CoV-2 RNA gene copies found per milliliter of wastewater. Our analysis takes the average among all 14 NYC wastewater treatment plants, weighted by population served by each plant.

Note: this chart only shows wastewater measurements using the digital PCR method that were sampled on or after March 12, 2023, when NYC changed their detection methods. NYC's DOHMH tests samples and then sends their data to the State DOH, so data may lag by a few weeks.

NY State Wastewater Surveillance Dashboard: wastewater data as of Oct. 1

The city tests wastewater at 14 treatment plants around the city, which can point to larger trends in COVID-19 infections across boroughs.

NYC Sewer Systems With Increasing Levels of COVID-19 in Their Wastewater

Notes and sources

"COVID-19 levels" is the measured number of SARS-CoV-2 RNA gene copies found per milliliter of wastewater. This map shows each wastewater treatment plant's most recent measurement on record, compared to the sample taken at the same treatment plant the week before.

Note: NYC's DOHMH tests samples and then sends their data to the State DOH, so data may lag by a few weeks.

NY State Wastewater Surveillance Dashboard: wastewater data as of Oct. 1

Open Sewer Atlas: NYC sewershed boundaries

Hospitalizations

COVID-19 hospitalizations show the caseload faced by hospitals and indicate the number of serious cases of COVID being treated in intensive care units, or ICUs.

Some people hospitalized with COVID were initially admitted for other reasons. Starting in January 2022, New York began reporting the number of people admitted due to COVID or complications of COVID, shown as "admitted for COVID" below.

COVID hospital patients by ICU status

ICU
Total hospitalized

COVID hospital patients by reason for admission

Admitted for COVID
Admitted for other

Data sources

NYS Department of Health: hospitalizations as of Oct. 5, reason for admission as of Oct. 17

Deaths

Deaths in NYC by date of death

Confirmed and probable deaths
Incomplete

Notes and sources

Deaths include test-confirmed cases as well as others with “COVID-19” or equivalent listed on the death certificate. Data is shown by date of death and released by the city health department on a 3-day lag. Recent data is incomplete, and counts will increase as more deaths are reported.

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: deaths as of Oct. 16

Vaccinations (Until September 2023)

This data shows what share of New Yorkers received COVID vaccines and boosters, compared to New York City's population of 8.3 million in 2019, the year city health officials use for their measurements.

As of October 2023, New York State no longer publishes data on COVID vaccines.

7,575,319 NYC residents vaccinated with at least one dose

6,771,533 NYC residents vaccinated with both primary doses

4,723,271 NYC residents received an additional shot

Hospitalizations by vaccination status

7-day averages as of Sept. 16

Hospitalizations per 100k vaccinated people	0.4
Hospitalizations per 100k unvaccinated people	3.7

Data sources

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: vaccinations as of Sept. 21, cases and age-adjusted hospitalizations as of Sept. 16

History of Cases (Until August 2023)

This data shows the historical rise and fall of COVID-19 cases officially documented by the city. Cases were reported to the city are not tracked here, so this is an undercount of total cases.

As of September 2023, New York State no longer tracks data on day-to-day COVID-19 cases.

Also, given lack of testing, health experts no longer consider the number of Covid tests, or test positivity rate, as accurate data points in tracking the virus.

Cases by day in NYC, March 2020 to August 2023

Notes and sources

Data is for NYC residents. State case numbers differ from those reported by the city health department due to different collection and reporting methodologies.

NYS Department of Health: cases as of Sept. 1, 2023

Totals by Region

Borough	Cases	Deaths
Brooklyn	926,931	14,349
Queens	879,664	13,587
Manhattan	599,377	6,258
The Bronx	520,477	8,591
Staten Island	214,153	2,774

	Cases	Deaths	Vaccinated
New York City	3,140,602	45,559	7,575,319
New York State	6,794,738	77,157	18,427,712
United States	103,804,263	1,123,836	270,227,181

Notes and sources

Deaths include test-confirmed cases as well as deaths reported as "probable." Vaccinations represent the number of individuals who have received at least one vaccine dose.

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: NYC deaths as of Oct. 18, NYC vaccinations as of Sept. 21

NYS Department of Health: NYC cases as of Aug. 30

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: NYS vaccinations as of May 10, US vaccinations as of May 10, US tests as of May 7

Johns Hopkins University: NYS cases and deaths as of March 10, US cases and deaths as of March 10

Additional reporting and development by Ann Choi, Josefa Velasquez, Sujin Shin, Yoav Gonen and Will Welch.

Coronavirus in New York City

Snapshot

Wastewater Surveillance

COVID-19 Detection in NYC Wastewater

NYC Sewer Systems With Increasing Levels of COVID-19 in Their Wastewater

Hospitalizations

COVID hospital patients by ICU status

COVID hospital patients by reason for admission

Deaths

Deaths in NYC by date of death

PANDEMIC RECOVERY TRACKER: Subway Ridership

Vaccinations (Until September 2023)

Hospitalizations by vaccination status

History of Cases (Until August 2023)

Cases by day in NYC, March 2020 to August 2023

Totals by Region