As New York City sees more monkeypox cases — as does the northernmost borough with more than 15% of the total city cases — Bronxites can tune into a town hall Monday evening in Mount Eden.
The event will address monkeypox vaccination sites, testing and outreach at the New Settlement Community Center, 1501 Jerome Ave., near the corner of West 172nd Street at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The doors open at 5 p.m., and the event will also be live streamed by BronxNet.
It will be hosted by Dr. Madhuray (Didi) Ray, director of Data and Analytics for Childcare at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Sean Coleman, founder and executive director of South Bronx-based LGBTQ+ center Destination Tomorrow and Deputy Borough President Janet Peguero.
Bronxites account for 310 monkeypox cases reported so far, or about 15.59%, according to the most recently released data from the city health department. This information, which was released on Thursday and has a two-day lag, accounts for 1,989 cases citywide, while the count was up to 2,375 on Monday.
Last week, the Bronx made up 14.57% of the city’s cases, up from almost 13.4% a week earlier and 11.4% the week before that.
In the most recent snapshot of data, Manhattan and Brooklyn have reported more cases than the Bronx, with 917 and 472 cases respectively. Queens has 276 cases reported and Staten Island has seen just 13 while two cases have not been connected to any borough.
Most cases reported so far citywide are among those ages 25-34 with 833 cases and ages 35-44 with 733 cases, according to the most recently released data. Those ages 45-54 make up 239 of the cases accounted for, while ages 18-24 make up 101. There are 76 cases for those ages 55-64, just five cases for people 65-74 and one case for ages 75-84. There is one reported case with an unknown age and no reported cases for those under 18.
The vast majority of cases reported so far in New York City are among cisgender men, at 1,938 cases, while 32 transgender or non-binary people were diagnosed, as well as eleven cisgender women and eight people for which the gender is unknown.
Most people diagnosed in this outbreak so far, 1,392 cases, identify as LGBQ+, while 77 people identify as straight, according to the city’s data. The sexuality is unknown for 520 people.
As for race and ethnicity, 595 people in this data set are Hispanic, 550 are white, 498 are Black, 74 are Asian or Pacific Islander, 19 people fall into another category and the race or ethnicity is unknown for 253 people.
There are likely many more cases that have not been diagnosed, according to the city health department. See the city’s monkeypox webpage for information about the virus.
Reach Aliya Schneider at aschneider@schnepsmedia.com or (718) 260-4597. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
