CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – After peaking with more than 2,300 active cases in January, COVID-19 infection rates in Cape May County have dropped back to levels in November.
The rate of transmission is now at the lowest level since the pandemic began at 0.62.
In Friday’s weekly report from the Cape May County Department of Health, there were 355 active cases among residents in the county. Lower Township had the most with 98, followed by Middle Township with 79, Upper Township with 62 and Ocean City with 25.
Other cases included Dennis Township with 23; Woodbine, 14; Wildwood, 13; Cape May 10 (plus another 9 among non-residents); Wildwood Crest, 9; North Wildwood, 7; Avalon, 5; West Cape May, 4; Cape May Point and Sea Isle City, 2 each; and West Wildwood and Stone Harbor, 1 each.
There was one new death attributed to COVID-19, a 95-year old woman from Lower Township.
There have been 288 fatalities since the pandemic statistics have been tracked in March 2020, including 176 in the communities and 112 in long-term care facilities. Middle Township and Lower Township have had the most deaths attributed to the coronavirus, with 47 and 45, respectively. Lower Township has had the most in long-term care with 39. Middle Township had 25, Dennis Township had 20, Ocean City 16 and Woodbine 12 in long-term care.
In the communities across the county, there have been 17 deaths in Upper Township, 16 in Ocean City, 11 in Wildwood, 9 in Dennis Township, 6 in Woodbine, 5 in Wildwood Crest, 4 each in Cape May, West Cape May, Sea Isle City and North Wildwood; 3 in Avalon and 1 in West Wildwood. There have been no fatalities reported in Cape May Point or Stone Harbor.
The Department of Health has vaccine clinics each week. One is 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the department, 6 Moore Road, Cape May Court House.
For information on obtaining the vaccine, quickly and free of charge, go online to https://capemaycountynj.gov/226/Health-Department or call (609) 465-1187.
Cape May County has recorded 20,546 COVID-19 cases during the pandemic, 19,889 of those are now off quarantine. More details on daily reported case numbers can be found at capemaycountynj.gov/1418/Covid-19-Dashboard.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff