Fatalities reach 200; number of new and active COVID-19 cases decline
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
More than half of Cape May County’s population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and more than a third have received both doses, the county Department of Health announced last week.
Since April 21, there has only been one death attributed to the coronavirus – an 84-year-old man from Lower Township reported on Monday, April 26. That brings the death toll in the county to 200 since the pandemic began. There have also been a total of 8,480 cases of COVID-19 during the period that began in March 2020. Of those, the department reports, 8,028 are off quarantine.
The Department of Health said the county reached the 50 percent threshold on April 22 with 46,198 residents vaccinated out of a population of 92,039, according to the U.S. Census.
This means that locally Cape May County is currently over two-thirds of the way to its goal of fully vaccinated individuals, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts at 70 percent of the population.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to hear this encouraging news with more than a month until Memorial Day,” said Cape May County Commissioner Vice Director Leonard Desiderio, co-chair of the county’s Recovery Task Force. “We know we can’t stop now and will continue to work to ensure that every Cape May County resident that wants a vaccine shot is able to receive one.”
“I want to thank Commissioner Jeff Pierson and Health Officer Kevin Thomas for their leadership in response to COVID-19,” said Commissioner Director Gerald M. Thornton. “The efforts between them and our team of employees that are assisting during this pandemic has been amazing. Seeing these vaccinations numbers continue to increase so rapidly provides optimism for the months ahead.”
As of Monday, April 26, 47,426 residents had been vaccinated as Cape May County, which continues to lead the state in vaccinations per capita.
Also on Monday, there were 252 active cases of the coronavirus in the county, including 68 in Middle Township and 65 in Lower Township, the two communities with the greatest numbers.
Upper Township had 23 active case and Ocean City had 22.
Elsewhere in the county, active cases included Wildwood (23), Dennis Township (18), North Wildwood (14), Wildwood Crest (10), Sea Isle City (4), West Cape May (3), Cape May and Woodbine (1 each).
There were no active cases in Avalon, Cape May Point, Stone Harbor and West Wildwood.
On Monday, there were 13 new cases of COVID-19 reported, seven of them in Lower Township. On Sunday, there were 18 new cases, including five in Lower Township and four in Middle Township. On Saturday, there were 14 new cases including four each in Lower and Middle. On Friday, there were 24 new cases, including 10 in Middle and six in Lower. On Thursday, there were 20 new cases including seven each in Lower and Middle. On Wednesday, April 21, there were 29 new cases with eight in Middle and five each in Lower and Dennis townships, and on April 20 there were 28 cases, with six in Middle, five each in Upper Township, Ocean City and Lower Township.
Of the 200 fatalities attributed to COVID-19, 97 were in long-term care facilities – 34 in Lower Township – and 103 were in the communities, led by Middle Township with 28 and Lower Township with 23. There have been 27 fatalities in Ocean City, 15 of them in long-term care; 12 deaths in Upper Township and three fatalities in Cape May.