By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – The Cape May County Department of Health said the number of COVID-19 patients at Cape Regional Medical Center has decreased since Jan. 4, when there were 28 coronavirus-positive patients, including six in intensive care and one on a ventilator.
Gov. Phil Murphy said statewide the patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 were hovering at less than half of the 8,270 peak of the pandemic (see related story).
That number had fallen to 20 as of Sunday, with four in the ICU and one on a ventilator.
On Jan. 5, 73 residents and staff at Crest Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center received their first dose of the vaccine as part of the state’s Phase 1A group.
Six county residents, according to the department, succumbed to the virus between Jan. 4 and Jan. 10, bringing the county’s death toll to 148, including 87 in long-term care, since the pandemic began in March.
On Jan. 9, the department reported the death of a 72-year-old man in Woodbine. On Jan. 8, it was a 73-year-old man from Lower Township. On Jan. 7, there were two coronavirus-related fatalities, an 83-year-old female from Lower Township and a 74-year-old female from Middle Township. The department also reported a 77-year-old Dennis Township man’s death on Jan. 6 and an 88-year-old man from Dennis Township on Jan. 4.
Active cases had climbed to more than 600 over the weekend, spread throughout the county’s communities, but that number also declined a little by Sunday to 592, with another 10 in long-term care and two among residents.
The county is approaching 5,000 positive cases, reaching 4,886 on Sunday with 39 new cases in the communities, but no new cases among visitors or in long-term care.
The two active cases among visitors were in Cape May, which at one point had more than 30. The 10 active cases in long-term care included six in Woodbine, one in Ocean City, one in Middle Township and two in Dennis Township.
There were 149 active cases in Middle Township, 114 in Lower Township, 82 in Upper Township and 74 in Ocean City. Other active cases included 41 in Dennis Township, 36 in Wildwood, 19 each in North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, 12 each in Sea Isle City and Woodbine, 11 in Cape May, eight each in Avalon and Stone Harbor, six in West Cape May, two in Cape May Point and one in West Wildwood.