COVID-19 in New York City
Is COVID going around in New York City?
COVID-19 is the illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In New York City it never fully went away: activity rises and falls through the year, and in recent years increases have shown up in late summer and again in winter.
HealthNarc pulls the case data published by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene into the same map as symptom reports from people in the community, so you can see the current picture for your part of the city instead of a national headline.
Know the signs
COVID-19 symptoms
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
How it spreads
The virus spreads mainly through respiratory droplets and aerosols when an infected person breathes, talks, coughs or sneezes. Crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation carry the most risk, and people can pass it on a day or two before they feel sick.
The local picture
COVID in the five boroughs
NYC Health publishes confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases by borough, along with emergency department visits and hospital admissions for COVID-like illness. HealthNarc imports those feeds as batch reports positioned by borough.
Community reports add the neighborhood-level detail that official counts miss. When several people near you report fever, cough and loss of smell in the same week, that shows up on the map before it shows up in a weekly bulletin.
What to do
COVID-19, flu and a cold can feel identical, so a test is the only reliable way to tell them apart. Updated vaccines are offered each fall, and antiviral treatment works best when started early. Talk to a healthcare provider if you are at higher risk or your symptoms are getting worse.
Where the data comes from
Sources for COVID data
The live figure above is the citywide count from the official feed HealthNarc imports (NYC Health or the CDC’s National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System) for the latest four published weeks, compared with the four weeks before. Where no official feed exists, it falls back to community reports from the last 28 days. For exposure notices and guidance, use these sources:
In the news
COVID headlines
Headlines load when you open this page.
Headlines link to their publishers. HealthNarc does not verify or endorse outside reporting.
Common questions
COVID in NYC: questions people ask
- How can I tell if I have COVID or just a cold?
- You usually can't from symptoms alone. Loss of taste or smell points more toward COVID-19, but fever, cough, congestion and fatigue happen with both. A rapid test at home or a PCR test at a clinic is the only reliable way to know.
- When does COVID usually peak in New York City?
- Timing varies from year to year. Recent years have brought a late-summer increase and a larger wave in winter, often overlapping with flu season. The live numbers on this page show what is happening right now rather than the typical pattern.
- Where does the NYC COVID data come from?
- From the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which publishes case counts by borough and emergency department data for COVID-like illness. HealthNarc imports those published datasets and places them on the map alongside community reports.
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