Will the Bronx Become the Next Epicenter for Coronavirus?

by Jared Evan

Health officials are warning that the Bronx can become the next epicenter for the deadly Covi-19 pandemic

The Bronx may be 4^th in population in NYC, only Staten Island has a smaller population, the Bronx is home to very large families.

The borough had 4,243 recorded coronavirus cases as of press, according to city officials — fewer than Brooklyn’s 6,095 cases, or Queens’ 7,362 cases, the NY Post pointed out.

The Bronx opened up its first pop-up coronavirus drive-up testing site is coming to the Bronx on Monday, ABC reported.  The site will operate behind the Bay Plaza Mall in Co-Op City. The site is be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. by appointment-only.

The Bronx seems to be behind in regard to resources. The NY Post reported 30 furious nurses and their relatives protested a shortage of masks and gloves in front of Jacobi Hospital’s Emergency Room in the Bronx early Saturday, demanding the government provide personal protective equipment immediately.

The NY Post reported: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams joined the nurses, who gave The Post a nightmarish glimpse of working in vulnerable conditions without proper safety equipment. Nurses said some people have resorted to stealing protective equipment.

Meanwhile the post also reported:  the Bronx is still ripe for a COVID-19 epidemic because of its high numbers of residents living in multigenerational housing with a relative lack of resources, said Sumir Sahgal, the chief medical officer for Essen Health Care, which provides primary, specialty and urgent care for over 80,000 Bronx residents. Essen has already seen 25 members of its staff test positive for the virus — including Sahgal himself.

Steven Merahn, a doctor who works with Sahgal, said that despite the attention Manhattan and Queens have received as hospitals are flooded with coronavirus patients, The Bronx is “the true ground zero for what’s going to happen.” “We’ve not had the access to protective equipment and testing kits,” he said. “If that doesn’t happen soon, our professionals are going to be taken out of action.”

Census numbers show the population age in this borough spread among age demographics, 29.8% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% 65 or older. These numbers indicate a lot of families, with young kids and young parents, and their grandparents.  The majority of people in the Bronx are lower to middle income working class, leaning heavily Hispanic from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. There is also a sizable modern Orthodox community in the Riverdale area.

The Bronx for decades has been the most neglected borough.  Much has been written about the transformation from a Middle-Class area in the 60’s to a burned down hell hole by the Mid 80’s. The City made many poor decisions over several decades, including The Cross Bronx Expressway, completed in 1963, which was part of Robert Moses’ urban renewal project for New York City. This project ended up displacing thousands; the MTA also tore down a major elevated train lime, resulting in thousands of working people cut off from rapid transportation

We are not hearing a lot about the Bronx and coronavirus in the mass media. Let’s hope the folks living in the in the home of the N.Y Yankees are not left to die by government neglect.