{"id":19743,"date":"2024-07-06T16:28:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-06T20:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/?p=19743"},"modified":"2025-08-13T05:29:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T09:29:23","slug":"how-did-new-york-become-the-epicenter-of-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/eternal-19743-how-did-new-york-become-the-epicenter-of-covid-19","title":{"rendered":"How Did New York Become the Epicenter of COVID-19?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic became a truly global problem, changing people&#8217;s lives and causing social and economic upheaval. Read more at <a href=\"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\">i-new-york<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Countless sporting, religious, political, and cultural events were postponed or canceled. Educational institutions were closed in many countries, affecting approximately 98.5% of the world&#8217;s school-aged and university-aged population. To ensure the safety of students and educators, classes were moved online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also have to mention businesses, particularly restaurants, which suffered significantly from the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just think about mandatory masks and the total lockdown, when people could only leave their homes for essential needs. In 2020, life seemed to stand still, but COVID-19 was just gaining momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even the borders of many countries were closed, and emergency safety measures were introduced that affected all aspects of life. The strict lockdowns in several countries and regions led to protests. The global economy as a whole, as well as the economies of individual countries and market sectors, was negatively impacted. In 90% of countries, the pandemic caused serious disruptions to healthcare systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It sounds like something out of a movie, but humanity really did go through a terrible <a href=\"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/eternal-yellow-fever-epidemics-in-new-york-in-the-18th-century\">pandemic<\/a> that divided life into &#8220;before&#8221; and &#8220;after.&#8221; Even major states like New York could barely cope with COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a13e0eea2b3a\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a13e0eea2b3a\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/eternal-19743-how-did-new-york-become-the-epicenter-of-covid-19\/#How_Did_the_Virus_Get_to_New_York\" >How Did the Virus Get to New York?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/eternal-19743-how-did-new-york-become-the-epicenter-of-covid-19\/#The_Rising_Number_of_COVID-19_Cases\" >The Rising Number of COVID-19 Cases<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/eternal-19743-how-did-new-york-become-the-epicenter-of-covid-19\/#Why_Did_New_York_Become_the_Epicenter_of_the_Epidemic\" >Why Did New York Become the Epicenter of the Epidemic?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/eternal-19743-how-did-new-york-become-the-epicenter-of-covid-19\/#A_Hospital_Apocalypse\" >A Hospital Apocalypse<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/eternal-19743-how-did-new-york-become-the-epicenter-of-covid-19\/#Mass_Graves_in_New_York_During_COVID-19\" >Mass Graves in New York During COVID-19<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Did_the_Virus_Get_to_New_York\"><\/span>How Did the Virus Get to New York?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first case was officially registered in New York on March 1, 2020, in a nurse in her 30s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She had returned to the U.S. after visiting relatives in Iran. She likely contracted the virus there or during her flight, but she doesn&#8217;t know for sure how it happened. Fortunately, she didn&#8217;t need hospitalization because her symptoms, according to doctors, were &#8220;not critical,&#8221; and she made a full recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, a few days earlier, another resident, lawyer Lawrence Garbuz, also developed symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 50-year-old lawyer lived in the New York suburb of New Rochelle and worked in the heart of Manhattan. On February 27, 2020, he returned from a service at his synagogue. The lawyer felt unwell and sought medical attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His neighbors initially claimed that Garbuz had recently visited Italy and talked about his trip in detail. However, according to official information, the lawyer had not traveled and had not been in contact with people infected with the coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless, on March 2, 2020, the lawyer was diagnosed with the &#8220;coronavirus disease,&#8221; and this became the reason for the first strict lockdown in a specific U.S. community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In early March in New Rochelle, where the lawyer lived, 1,000 residents were ordered to stay in their homes. A security zone of 1 square mile was established around the synagogue that Lawrence Garbuz attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Immediately after the COVID diagnosis, National Guard units were deployed to the area to enforce all the rules. They also set up some of the first mobile coronavirus testing sites in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, according to the governor, the officially registered cases were likely not the first in New York State. The virus probably arrived in New York much earlier, as it&#8217;s a city that welcomes tourists from all over the world, meaning anyone could have been a carrier of the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-new-york.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/07\/17121748\/ad_4nxeokwyx4h6zgkjgccstpew3kobadn8na8quo11ur36xnsa2qwktvg4kxlwte8nmex0oovvzro8nx9-4nja0qvvtkz3y6kxwi0m3t3bwuuslejo5oqetsfrt0riwvt9zgv4nnf4layasni9m4jmbh2suldqkeygmp87dfx-mwpimkwjvgddq.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Rising_Number_of_COVID-19_Cases\"><\/span>The Rising Number of COVID-19 Cases<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With the first two COVID cases discovered in the city, the number of patients increased dramatically. According to data, there were already 88 infected people on March 12, 2020. Four days later, on March 16, that number was 464. By March 18, 2020, the number of patients with a confirmed diagnosis exceeded 2,000, and just two days later, it was already 5,600. <strong>New York crossed the 10,000-infected mark by the evening of March 21.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>City authorities couldn&#8217;t keep up with the explosive growth of cases. On March 7, 2020, Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency, and five days later, he banned any gatherings of more than 500 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, restaurants, museums, and theaters were advised to close. Most eateries and bars continued to operate but introduced rules requiring customers to maintain the necessary &#8220;social distance.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-new-york.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/07\/17121747\/ad_4nxep6kepnhmveqybpqwou00_llzkmxuotusupptiy15faa7tqyh0aqjdl92xvmzkcbv8k4fmvuf-seetkcbql2hy6dlc-iwpcl33ui_y9xiyfi2ckd3xmik_6pum5kt9m5echc8ml20uppmzwmqwkso9an4keygmp87dfx-mwpimkwjvgddq.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Did_New_York_Become_the_Epicenter_of_the_Epidemic\"><\/span>Why Did New York Become the Epicenter of the Epidemic?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s no secret that New York is &#8220;the city that never sleeps.&#8221; According to experts, this was the main reason for the rapid increase in COVID cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to official data, the city has more than 8.4 million residents, but the total population of &#8220;greater New York,&#8221; including suburbs and parts of neighboring states, exceeds 23.6 million people. The majority of them commute to the city for work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exact number of undocumented residents in New York is unknown, but several research centers estimate that more than 500,000 immigrants without official documents live in the city permanently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, the high population density in some areas made the state particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to 2020 statistics, 27,000 people live in one square mile in New York. In a city that is active 24\/7, maintaining &#8220;social distance&#8221; proved to be extremely difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to experts, the main carriers of the virus were plastic seats and metal handrails in public transportation, where the virus could survive for up to 72 hours. It&#8217;s scary to imagine how many people could touch the seats or metal handrails on the subway or buses in a single day. <strong>It was a vicious cycle, as the virus could remain on surfaces for almost three days.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Hospital_Apocalypse\"><\/span>A Hospital Apocalypse<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, a genuine apocalypse was unfolding in New York hospitals. According to doctors, patients with coronavirus symptoms were arriving at one of the state&#8217;s hospitals &#8220;every three to five minutes.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some sick people came on their own, while those with more severe symptoms were brought in by ambulance crews. This led to doctors having to work 16-18 hours a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In March 2020, the surge in deaths from the virus in New York was also attributed to the fact that a large number of residents did not seek medical help until the last moment, trying to manage their symptoms at home. In such cases, even doctors were eventually powerless, and tragically, many of these delays resulted in fatal outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result, New York released new guidelines for emergency services at that time: mandatory assistance was only to be given to patients who had a chance of recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine this: New York ambulance crews were advised not to take people with heart attacks to hospitals if they had no pulse upon arrival. The reason for this decision was the insufficient amount of equipment and lack of available hospital beds in the state, so they had to prioritize saving people they could still help. It sounds awful, of course, but those were the harsh realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-new-york.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/08\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19744\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-new-york.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/08\/image.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.i-new-york.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/08\/image-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/cdn.i-new-york.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/08\/image-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.i-new-york.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/08\/image-696x392.png 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mass_Graves_in_New_York_During_COVID-19\"><\/span>Mass Graves in New York During COVID-19<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the peak of the COVID outbreak, photos taken by a drone in New York began to appear online, showing people in protective suits lowering coffins into a mass grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The images show them descending stairs to the bottom of a huge pit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This part of New York\u2014Hart Island\u2014has been used by city authorities for over 150 years for the mass burial of those who have no relatives or whose families cannot afford a funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the New York City Mayor&#8217;s Office, burials on Hart Island took place no more than once a week before the pandemic, but during the massive outbreak, work there only stopped on weekends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-new-york.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/07\/17121744\/ad_4nxfsfqrhgu03f7qp-plsfdeypbox4ohcrfshtgymiifshrl9wu58-zxddxeiaigtgqx2d7pe4n3vkxjprh13kfjckxlvkgw7gcsvqdg8iusystxm5ifrdt5ngfj_cvbw0qfijhtf3twmjkdmz7pp8vswdkszkeygmp87dfx-mwpimkwjvgddq.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 pandemic became a truly global problem, changing people&#8217;s lives and causing social and economic upheaval. Read more at i-new-york. Countless sporting, religious, political, and cultural events were postponed or canceled. Educational institutions were closed in many countries, affecting approximately 98.5% of the world&#8217;s school-aged and university-aged population. To ensure the safety of students [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":19747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4817],"tags":[7943,7949,7953,7948,7951,7956,7944,7946,7945,7942,7947,7954,7952,7950,7955],"motype":[4825],"moformat":[83],"moimportance":[32,35],"class_list":{"0":"post-19743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthy","8":"tag-coronavirus-new-york","9":"tag-covid-19-epicenter","10":"tag-covid-19-history","11":"tag-covid-19-new-york","12":"tag-doctor-mike","13":"tag-global-pandemic","14":"tag-hart-island-mass-graves","15":"tag-hospital-crisis-nyc","16":"tag-new-rochelle-quarantine","17":"tag-new-york-pandemic","18":"tag-nyc-lockdown","19":"tag-nyc-public-transport-virus","20":"tag-nyc-state-of-emergency","21":"tag-pandemic-timeline","22":"tag-public-health","23":"motype-eternal","24":"moformat-longread-short","25":"moimportance-golovna-novyna","26":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19743"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19753,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19743\/revisions\/19753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19743"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=19743"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=19743"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-new-york.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=19743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}