COVID-19 cases about even among residents, visitors
By DAVID NAHAN
Sentinel staff
Cape May County has almost as many active COVID-19 cases among visitors as it does among residents, but the daily total of new cases remains low.
There are now 51 active cases among residents in the county, including 10 in Middle Township, eight in Upper Township, seven in Lower Township and six in Woodbine. There were 39 cases among visitors to the county.
North Wildwood, which has three active cases among residents, had eight active cases among visitors. Ocean City had seven cases among visitors and five among residents and Sea Isle had five cases among visitors and four among residents.
On Monday, there were only two new positive test results for COVID-19 among visitors and two more among residents. On Sunday, there was only one new positive among residents (in Woodbine) and none among visitors, and on Saturday, one non-resident tested positive, but there were seven new cases spread out around the county.
On Friday, Aug. 14, there were six new cases among residents and four among visitors and the day before, Aug. 13, there were five among residents and three among visitors. Health officials also reported a fatality – a 50-year-old man from Woodbine due to COVID-19.
Cape May County has now had 1,041 cases of COVID-19 and 83 fatalities, still among the lowest in counties across New Jersey. Fifty-seven of the fatalities were in long-term care, 33 of them in Lower Township facilities.
On Monday, the state Department of Health reported there have been 187,767 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and 14,077 deaths. There also have been another 1,839 deaths suspected to be caused by the coronavirus.
Other current active cases, as of Monday, included five non-residents and one resident in Avalon; four non-residents and two residents in Cape May; and three cases among non-residents and one among residents in both West Wildwood and Wildwood. There were no active cases in Cape May Point, the smallest community in Cape May County. In fact, there have been no cases, period, in Cape May Point during the pandemic.
Lower Township (269), Middle Township (211) and Upper Township (115) have had the highest number of cases of coronavirus in the county.
Counties grouped by region for school cases
The state Department of Health released new guidelines for schools including more specific rules on how schools should handle positive COVID-19 cases, when they should ask students in individual classrooms to quarantine and when entire schools should close. The rules are general guidelines and districts can opt to develop more stringent rules, according to the county Department of Health.
The county said the new guidelines include a prevalence tracking system for six state regions. Cape May County is grouped with Cumberland and Atlantic. Should the prevalence of COVID-19 become too high in a region then that could trigger a closing and schools may be required to go all remote learning, the county reported.
Under the new guidelines: should only one positive COVID be detected in a school then the school can remain open. Should anyone be in close contact with a positive case they are required to be excluded from school for 14 days. Should two people in the same classroom get sick then the school can remain open. However, everyone in the cohort classroom could be asked to quarantine. If two or more people in different classrooms have confirmed COVID-19 cases within 14 days at the same school then the entire school could be shut down.