Atlantic County tops 1,800 cases as Cape May County surpasses 500
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
The rate of COVID-19 cases doubling dropped in Atlantic and Cape May counties, according to the New Jersey Department of Health on Monday, May 18.
Both are now at a minimum of 30 days, the same as all counties in New Jersey except for Cumberland. Cumberland County has a doubling rate of 28.5 days.
Overall, Cape May County has now reported just more than 500 cases of the coronavirus, and Atlantic County is now up to 1,816 cases. There have been 112 deaths through Monday in Atlantic County and 41 in Cape May County.
Cape May County
Although there were 20 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Cape May County on Friday, May 15, there were only four new cases reported Saturday and three more on Sunday. There were five new cases Monday.
There also was one death over the weekend and one reported Monday. A 63-year-old Woodbine man died from COVID-19 on Saturday, and an 87-year-old woman from Lower Township died Monday, bringing the total fatalities from the coronavirus to 41 since the pandemic began, the Cape May County Department of Health reported.
Thirty-two of the deaths have been residents of long-term care facilities, including 24 in Lower Township, where there remain 61 active cases. At similar facilities, there are 31 active cases in Woodbine and 26 in Dennis Township.
As of Monday in the communities, Middle Township had 19 active cases, Lower Township had 22, Upper Township had 17 and Ocean City had nine. There were seven cases in Woodbine, four in North Wildwood, three in West Wildwood, two in Wildwood Crest and one in Wildwood.
Dennis Township had four and there was one each in Cape May, Stone Harbor and West Cape May. There were no reported cases in Avalon, Cape May Point and Sea Isle City.
Statewide there were 148,039 cases as of Monday and 10,435 deaths from COVID-19, the vast majority in north Jersey counties including Hudson, Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Union and Middlesex.
There were nearly 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 and almost 90,000 deaths in the United States at the start of this week. Worldwide cases were over 4.7 million with 315,000 deaths.
Overall, Cape May County has reported a total of 515 cases since the pandemic began. Of those 112 are active in the communities, another 135 are in long-term care facilities and 228 are now off quarantine.
Cape May remains second only to Salem County with the fewest cases in the state.
By comparison, Hudson County has 17,574 positive cases and 1,068 deaths and Essex County has 16,600 cases and 1,536 deaths.
Atlantic County
From Friday through Sunday, the Atlantic County Division of Public Health reported 112 new cases and seven fatalities from COVID-19.
On Monday, there were another 38 new cases, but no additional deaths. Those cases included 20 women from 15 to 85 years old and 18 men from 25 to 94.
Ten of today’s positive cases were in Pleasantville and eight in Atlantic City. Egg Harbor City, Egg Harbor Township, Galloway and Hamilton Township each had three new cases while Absecon, Hammonton and Mullica Township had two. One new case was confirmed in both Somers Point and Ventnor.
On Sunday, a one-month-old boy tested positive for COVID-19. He was among 33 new cases that included 19 males up to 73 years old and 14 women from 52 to 91 years old. The division reported a 73-year-old Hammonton man died.
Hammonton had nine new cases while Hamilton Township and Pleasantville each had four. Three new positives were identified in Atlantic City and Northfield. Absecon, Galloway and Ventnor all had two, and Buena Borough, Folsom and Linwood all had one new confirmation. An additional case was listed for Atlantic County but the specific town has yet to be determined, according to Atlantic County Public Information Officer Linda Gilmore.
On Saturday, there were 52 positive cases and fourth deaths – three of them at long-term care facilities – a 93-year-old Galloway Township woman and two Hammonton residents, a 79-year-old man and an 88-year-old woman. The fourth fatality was in a 64-year-old Atlantic City woman. All four individuals had pre-existing conditions that made them more vulnerable for complications, Gilmore confirmed.
Saturday’s positive cases were confirmed among 22 males from 6 years old to 88 and 30 women from 19 to 96. The cases included 11 in Pleasantville, nine in Hamilton Township, seven in Atlantic City and Hammonton, five in Egg Harbor Township, three in Buena Borough and Galloway, two in Margate and Mullica Township, and one each in Egg Harbor City, Northfield and Somers Point.
On Friday, May 15, three residents of long-term care facilities died from complications of COVID-19, the division reported. They include an 83-year-old Egg Harbor Township woman and two Hammonton residents, an 82-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman. All three individuals had underlying health conditions.
Also on Friday, county health officials reported 27 new positive cases among 12 men from 31 to 87 years old and 15 women, ages 14 to 86.
Nine cases were confirmed in Pleasantville, seven in Northfield and four in Galloway. Atlantic City and Egg Harbor Township each had two new positives while Absecon, Hammonton and Margate each had one.
Atlantic County will continue to provide COVID-19 testing from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 21, behind the Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing for symptomatic county residents with a doctor’s prescription. Appointments can be made online at www.aclink.org.