Officials cite influx of tourists, eased restrictions, not following protocols
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
The number of cases of COVID-19 has increased in Cape May County in July compared to June. County officials cite eased business restrictions by the governor, the large influx of tourists and younger people not following social distancing protocols.
Overall, however, the number of new cases per day among county residents is relatively low. There are additional cases among out-of-county residents and there have been more fatalities as the total number of confirmed cases rose to 909 as of Monday, July 20, with 79 fatalities.
On Monday, there were 140 active cases in the county, with 35 in Middle Township, 27 in Lower Township and 23 in Upper Township. Cape May, with 13 cases, and North Wildwood, with 10 cases, were the only other communities in the county in the double digits. There also were 143 active cases among non-residents.
There were seven new cases overall in the county reported Monday, five of them in Cape May and one each in Dennis and Upper townships. There were nine new cases reported Sunday, eight each on Saturday and Friday, and 17 on Thursday, July 16, including seven in Middle Township and five in Upper Township. On Wednesday, July 15, there were eight new cases.
From July 15 to 20, there also were 43 cases of COVID-19 reported among non-residents visiting Cape May County.
The Department of Health on Friday reported an 88-year-old man and 91-year-old woman from North Wildwood had died and on Monday that a 100-year-old woman and 68-year-old woman from Lower Township had died from complications of the coronavirus.
Denis Brown, administrative aide to the county Board of Chosen Freeholders, said focusing on new cases per day may be the most accurate way of looking at the trends in the county rather than on the number of active cases on a given day. He explained that active cases stay on the rolls for 14 days, so the total of 140 on Monday, compared to the 93 on July 15, would include people who are just coming down with the coronavirus through those who are about to come off their two weeks on the list.
He offered a seven-day sample, showing 536 total cases over the week ending July 5 compared to 597 total for the week ending July 12, an increase of 61 cases. For the week ending July 19, the most recent Sunday, there were 653 cases, a rise of 56 – a smaller increase than the week before.
Over the past 14 days, he said, there has been an average of eight new cases per day.
“Overall,” Brown said, “we do have more cases in July than June, but even the governor has said we expected cases to be more as we reopen (the economy) than when we were closed.”
Cape May County’s population explodes during the summer tourist season, increasing more than five-fold from the year-round population.
Brown said a normal summer weekend in years past would see 600,000 people and closer to 800,000 to 900,000 on a July Fourth weekend. This year the county is unsure what the population is but “obviously, way more people than in June or May. So when you consider summer population increase versus spring population and being at roughly eight cases per day in-county over the last 14 days, I think it provides some context to everything.”
He added the county’s goal remains to “get that number as close to zero as possible. That is why the county had its Social Distancing Ambassadors and is working on a social media campaign to reach younger people to mask up.”
Cape May and Salem counties have the lowest number of positive cases and fatalities in the state. Bergen, Hudson and Essex counties all have more than 19,000 cases. Essex has 1,838 confirmed deaths, Bergen has 1,765 and Hudson has 1,313.
On Monday, the New Jersey Department of Health reported the state’s total number of cases at 176,963 with 13,741 confirmed deaths and another 1,974 probable tests.