By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
The number of active COVID-19 cases in Cape May County fell by half from last week to this week.
According to the Cape May County Department of Health, on Monday, Aug. 10, there were 42 active cases among residents in the county and an additional two in long-term care. Through most of last week, there had been 80 or more active cases of the coronavirus countywide.
As of Monday, there were no communities in the county with cases in the double digits. Upper Township and Middle Township each had nine cases, the highest in the county.
Ocean City, Lower Township and Woodbine had four cases each; Cape May and Sea Isle had three cases apiece; Wildwood had two and Wildwood Crest, West Wildwood, North Wildwood and Dennis Township had a single case each. There were no active cases in Avalon, Cape May Point, Stone Harbor and West Cape May.
There are 30 active COVID-19 cases in the county among non-residents, including nine in Sea Isle and six in Avalon and Ocean City.
There were two active cases in long-term care, one in Lower and the other in Middle.
Cape May County had 1,012 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Monday and 82 fatalities since the pandemic began.
Over the course of the pandemic, the hardest-hit communities have been Lower with 265 cases, Middle with 207 and Upper with 112. Lower has had the most fatalities, with three among residents and 33 in long-term care facilities. Middle and Dennis have each had 10 deaths related to COVID-19, seven of them in long-term care, followed by Woodbine with seven deaths in long-term care and two in the community.
Ocean City has had three deaths, two of them in long-term care, and Upper Township and North Wildwood each have had three community fatalities. Cape May has seen two community deaths and Wildwood has had one.
There have been no community fatalities in Avalon, Cape May Point, Sea Isle City, Stone Harbor, West Cape May, West Wildwood and Wildwood Crest.
Contributing to the low active case numbers are few daily positive results being reported. On Monday, there were two cases in the communities and eight among visitors. On Sunday, there were two in the community and four among visitors. On Saturday, there were two and three, respectively; on Friday, four and one; and on Thursday, two and one.
Of the 1,012 cases, 886 of those who tested positive are off quarantine.
Statewide
On Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy said the state has 185,031 positive test results and is nearing 16,000 fatalities. That includes 14,025 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and another 1,853 “probable” coronavirus deaths.
Cape May and Salem counties have had the fewest cases and lowest number of deaths in the state, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. The greatest number of cases is in the New York City metro area where Bergen County has recorded nearly 21,000 cases and 1,787 deaths, Essex County has had 1,872 confirmed deaths and 19,747 cases; and Hudson County had seen 19,683 cases and 1,338 fatalities.
Murphy and state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said the rate of transmission had declined again, from as high as 1.41 last week to 0.98 this week, meaning for every person infected, they are in turn infecting about one other person.
Drive-thru testing
The next session of drive-thru COVID-19 testing is scheduled for Aug. 20, starting at 8 a.m. by appointment only, at the Cape May County Fire Academy, 171 Crest Haven Road, Cape May Court House. The testing is sponsored by the Cape May County Department of Health and CompleteCare Network.
Individuals can be tested whether they have COVID-19 symptoms or COVID-19 exposure and no symptoms. Appointments for screenings can be requested online at CompleteCareNJ.org – click the Request an Appointment tab – or call (609) 465-0258. Officials recommend using the website to save time.