New York City has recorded a significant increase in its daily rate of COVID-19 cases, it was revealed on Tuesday (local time), the rise sparking "real concern" among officials.
In a news conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a daily positive test rate of 3.25 percent - the highest daily rate since June. On Monday, it was just 1.93 percent.
The uptick has been partly attributed to a surge in cases across nine ZIP codes in Brooklyn and Queens, according to the New York Times - some in primarily Orthodox Jewish communities.
"That is cause for real concern," de Blasio told reporters.
The increase comes as New York - a city hit particularly hard by the virus earlier in the year - attempts to ease its restrictive lockdown measures. The city will reintroduce indoor dining on Wednesday and has made moves to fully reopen its schools - however, classrooms will be closed if the test positivity rate exceeds 3 percent over a seven-day rolling average, as per the current guidelines.
On Tuesday, de Blasio said the city's current seven-day average was sitting at 1.38 percent, and the increase in cases in the nine ZIP codes had so far not correlated to a rise in infections across local schools.
"For the first time in months, you’re going to see a daily number over 3 percent," de Blasio said. "Obviously, everyone is concerned about that. That is something we all have to work on together to address, and something that says to us we have to be on high alert to make sure we fight back this challenge."
A fine will also be enforced for residents who are caught without a mask in public, de Blasio said, the crackdown beginning on a "large scale" from Tuesday.
The mayor said officials would first offer free masks to anyone caught without one - if the person refuses to wear the face covering, they will face an unspecified fine.
As reported by the New York Times, many of the city's latest cases have been linked to a new community outbreak, dubbed the 'Ocean Parkway cluster'. At least 1600 new infections associated with the cluster have been recorded in recent weeks, according to the outlet.
The Ocean Parkway cluster was detected last month as case rates surged in Borough Park, a neighbourhood in Brooklyn with a significant Orthodox Jewish community.
Several reports have noted the locals' reluctance to wear masks, yet public health officials believe new efforts to cooperate with community leaders will have positive outcomes. Early last week, officials warned residents of several areas - including Borough Park - that strict lockdown measures would be enforced if they did not see a local effort to follow the citywide safety measures.
The infections that have emerged from the identified ZIP codes over the past two weeks account for 25 percent of New York City's cases, according to health commissioner Dr Dave Chokshi. However, the communities comprise just 7 percent of the city's population of 18.8 million.
At least 15 deaths due to COVID-19 and 836 new cases were reported in New York on September 28. There has been an average of 856 cases per day over the past week - an increase of 22 percent from the average two weeks prior. As of Tuesday afternoon (local time), there have been at least 461,176 cases and 32,737 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a New York Times database.
Data from Johns Hopkins University estimates there are currently more than 347,800 active cases of the virus statewide.
In a briefing, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said two deaths and 571 hospitalisations for COVID-19 had been recorded in the city within the last 24 hours.
