By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
COVID-19 cases in Cape May County communities have declined, but the numbers still top 500 active cases when combined with long-term care facilities and non-residents.
There were seven COVID-19 fatalities reported over the past week, including four from Ocean City.
As of Sunday, there were 458 active cases in the communities, led by Middle Township with 100 and Lower Township with 91, Upper Township with 61 and Ocean City with 54.
Cape May had all of the non-resident cases with 29, including four new cases reported Monday, when the Cape May County Department of Health announced the death of two Ocean City men, one 66 years old and the other 86 years old.
Of the 39 active cases in long-term care, they were split among Dennis Township with 18, Woodbine with 15, Ocean City with three, Middle Township with two and Wildwood with one.
There were 35 new cases reported Sunday in the communities and five in long-term care, pushing Cape May County’s total to just over 3,800 since the state began tracking numbers in March. There have been 125 deaths in Cape May County since March, 76 of them in long-term care — 33 in Lower Township, 12 each in Ocean City and Dennis Township, 10 in Middle Township and nine in Woodbine.
Other active cases as of Monday included 73 in the Wildwoods — 24 in Wildwood, 23 in North Wildwood, 20 in Wildwood Crest and six in West Wildwood. Dennis Township reported 29, there were 14 in Woodbine, 11 in Avalon, eight in Cape May, five in West Cape May, one in Cape May Point, six in Sea Isle City and five in Stone Harbor.
On Saturday, the Cape May County Department of Health, which assembles and tracks the COVID-19 statistics, reported the death of a 64-year-old man from Cape May attributed to the coronavirus. There were 34 new cases reported in the communities and 16 among non-residents, all in Cape May.
On Friday, there were 52 new cases reported, including 49 in the communities, one non-resident and two in long-term care.
Two Ocean City residents were reported as COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, Dec. 17 — a 69-year-old female and a 95-year-old female. One resided in long-term care.
There were 55 new cases reported Dec. 16, 58 on Dec. 15 and 36 on Dec. 14.
A 62-year-old Dennis Township woman’s death was reported Dec. 14 and a 74-year-old Middle Township man’s death was reported Dec. 15. The Department of Health attributed their deaths to COVID-19.
Statewide, according to the New Jersey Department of Health, there have been 435,763 cases of the coronavirus and 16,315 confirmed deaths along with another 1,908 suspected COVID-19-related deaths.
The department notes there have been 792 COVID-19 cases in long-term care in the county. Of those, 408 are staff members.