New state, local stats, hints on reopening economy
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
CAPE MAY – The Cape May County Department of Health announced two additional fatalities related to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Monday, April 20, along with providing an update on the number of positive and recovered cases reported in the county.
The department also broke down other statistics include age range and cases by day.
That came on the same day that Gov. Phil Murphy announced he is getting more positive news about the number of COVID-19 cases in New Jersey and was working on guidelines for when the state could begin to reopen. Murphy said he would begin talking about those soon, but he didn’t waver from his position that a health rebound must precede an economic rebound.
Cape May County
In total, 15 Cape May County residents have passed away due to complications from COVID-19, according to the Department of Health. The most recent deaths involve a 51-year-old female from Upper Township and an 83-year-old male from Lower Township.
Overall, 11 of the deaths are in Lower Township, two are in Upper Township and one each in Dennis Township and Woodbine.
Lower Township has the most active cases with 43. Seventeen people in the township are now off quarantine. Most of the cases in the township involved residents and staff at the Victoria Manor long-term care facility in North Cape May, but the county is no longer able to provide statistics for a specific facility because of privacy rules.
Middle Township has 35 active cases, Upper Township has 17 and Ocean City and Wildwood have 14 each.
Other active cases include eight in Dennis Township, four in Wildwood Crest, two in North Wildwood and one each in Cape May, West Cape May and Woodbine. There are no active cases in Avalon, Cape May Point, Sea Isle City, stone Harbor and West Wildwood.
The total number of positive COVID-19 tests in Cape May County is 217. Of those, 65 have recovered and 15 have succumbed to the unique coronavirus.
Cases were a handful of less from March 18 to March 28, then numbers jumped to 8 on March 31. The peak days were April 4 with 25 cases, April 6 with 19, April 10 with 17 and April 12 with 18. Cases were back in the single digits for a few days then were up to 10 on April 17.
The Health Department said the most cases – 90 – were reported in the 41-to-65 age group. There were 65 cases among people 65 and older; 57 cases for people aged 18 to 40 and five cases for those 17 and under.
“It is with great sadness that we announce more lives lost to this pandemic,” said Freeholder Jeff Pierson in a press release late Monday afternoon. “Our sympathies and thoughts go out to these families. The death of two of our community members is a reminder to us all to continue to heed the precautions associated with preventing the spread of this disease.”
Atlantic County
On Monday, the Atlantic County Division of Public Health announced another 21 positive cases of the unique coronavirus, bringing the total to 427, but so far at least 71 people have recovered.
Monday’s cases include six residents from Egg Harbor Township, three each from Atlantic City and Galloway, and two from Estell Manor. There was one positive test in each of Brigantine, Hammonton, Linwood, Northfield, Pleasantville, Somers Point and Ventnor.
There were 22 new cases on Saturday and 14 on Sunday. An 84-year-old Egg Harbor Township woman with underlying health conditions was the latest fatality Saturday, according to the Division of Public Health. She was the 19th fatality from COVID-19 in the county.
In cases reported in Atlantic County Sunday, five are residents from Galloway, four from Egg Harbor Township, two from Hamilton Township and one each from Atlantic City, Buena Vista Township and Pleasantville. On Saturday, there were 22 cases, including six from Hammonton, three from Linwood residents and two each from Egg Harbor Township, Hamilton Township and Pleasantville. Absecon, Brigantine, Buena, Galloway, Northfield, Somers Point and Ventnor each had one new positive resident.
Local economic woes; area among hardest hit
On Monday, Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson noted that economically, among the hardest hit areas in the nation are the Atlantic City to Hammonton area and Ocean City.
He said Atlantic and Cape May counties were particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 outbreak due largely to the number of local businesses in the hospitality and entertainment sectors.
“The pain of mandatory stay at home orders is not limited to our area but is being felt nationwide,” Levinson said in a press release. “According to a recent report by the Brookings Institute, Ocean City, N.J.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., home to Disney Theme Parks; have also been severely impacted.”
Levinson used those facts to note why it was important for the area to diversify its economy and pointed to a number of factors in the aviation industry:
– The Federal Aviation Administration’s William J. Hughes Technical Center, the nation’s leading and largest aviation research laboratory;
– Atlantic City International Airport, an uncongested facility already designated as an aviation research testbed;
– The National Aviation Research and Technology Park, an aviation research technology park with partners including the National Institute of Aerospace, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Rowan University, Stockton University, and Atlantic Cape Community College;
– Partnership with Cape May County and its Unmanned Aerial Systems programs at the Cape May County Airport;
– The Smart Airport and Aviation Partnership located at the National Aviation Research and Technology Park and administered by the National Institute of Aerospace to accelerate the development of Smart Airport and Unmanned Air System Technologies.
Gov. Murphy on progress, reopening
In his Monday afternoon briefing to the public, Gov. Phil Murphy said he was encouraged by statistics across the state, but was not ready to lift the restrictions.
Statewide, he said, the spread of COVID-19 is slowing in all counties, but as of Monday’s report, there were 3,528 new cases bringing New Jersey’s total to 88,806 with another 177 fatalities, putting the death toll at 4,377.
“The good news is hospitalizations are down,” he said, noting the three-week trend has “achieved relative stability, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to see days with one-off spikes.” However, he said the number of COVID-19 patients in critical and intensive care is not showing as much improvement.
Newly-hospitalized patients is moving in a downward trend, the governor said. “That is one of the most positive indicators. It means the health care system is in a better position to get ahead and stay ahead. It means our aggressive social distancing efforts are having the desired effects. It means as new cases are identified and we take steps to ramp up our testing regime, we will be in a better place to capture and contain COVID-19.”
The governor, who was set to tour the Atlantic City Field Medical Station at the Atlantic City Convention Center Tuesday, called on the federal government to continue to help with PPE (personal protective equipment) and testing. He noted he has positive calls with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
He said New Jersey, which has the second-highest infection and death rate – behind New York – is the fourth-highest tested state in the United States, but is still nowhere it needs to be in testing and tracing potentially infected people.
Although the numbers are improving, he said, “we’re not claiming victory, but we are making progress.” He said the state had much further to go.
He said he was worried about small business, but “reopening the economy would backfire in two respects – a large spike in COVID-19 cases and no customers at our stores because people would still be fearful for their health and that of their kids and family.”
“Personal health,” he said, “creates economic health. It can’t be the other way around.”
He added all the restrictions may be inconvenient, “but your inconvenience pales in comparison to the 4,377 souls that have left us.”
He said in coming days he would be announcing the benchmarks needed to reopen the state.
“Do not think for a minute we’ll be able to flip a switch and return to life as we know it,” Murphy said. “We will continue to ask you to play your part.” Decisions on reopening will be based on facts and science so “we don’t exacerbate a boomerang effect.”