How N.Y.C.'s Conservative Bastion Became a Virus Hot Spot
When supporters flocked to a rally for President Trump on Staten Island last month, many left their masks at home. Others have been spotted mingling in barbershops and at family gatherings — signs of a dwindling vigilance that has given some neighbors pause. By Tuesday, the coronavirus outbreak here had gotten so bad that public health officials descended on the borough’s strip malls and street corners, hoping to slow the virus’s spread.
As New York City faces the prospect of a second wave of coronavirus infections, Staten Island finds itself at the leading edge of the pandemic’s resurgence. The borough’s positive test rate is the highest in the city — a full point higher than the citywide rate.
Two Staten Island ZIP codes have now risen above 5 percent, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to target the borough for a “Day of Action” on Tuesday, sending a flood of volunteers to raise awareness about the problem and to combat growing fatigue with the limitations that have become a daily part of life for millions of New Yorkers.
But Staten Island has long diverged from the rest of the city both culturally and politically, and some borough residents bristle at restrictions in a way that can at times more closely resemble the backlash in Republican strongholds in other parts of the nation — places that are now grappling with their own rise in cases.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/how-nycs-conservative-bastion-became-a-virus-hot-spot/ar-BB1aUiwZ?li=BBnb7Kz
