By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
Active cases of COVID-19 have jumped in Cape May County to nearly double the lowest point a week ago with cases rising again in Ocean City and Upper Township.
On Sunday, Oct. 26, the Cape May County Department of Health announced the number of active cases among residents was up to 131, with another four among non-residents and six in long-term care, including five in Lower Township, which has seen the worst COVID-19 numbers in both long-term care and fatalities during the pandemic.
Cape May County’s overall number of persons who tested positive for the coronavirus was 1,539 as of Monday, including 94 fatalities. There have been no new COVID-19-related fatalities over the past week.
Lower Township and Middle Township had the most active cases, with 29 and 25 respectively, among residents Monday. Upper Township was at 21 and Ocean City at 19. No other communities had cases in the double digits.
There were nine new cases among residents reported Monday, four of them in Middle Township, two in Upper Township, and one each in North Wildwood, Lower Township and Dennis Township. There were no new cases among non-residents, but four new cases in long-term care, all in Lower Township.
Over the past week, there have been more new cases reported on a daily basis than the prior week.
On Saturday, there were 15 new cases among residents, including four each in Ocean City and Lower Township. On Friday, there were nine new cases among residents, including five in Upper Township.
On Thursday, Oct. 22, there were 14 new cases among residents, including four each in Ocean City and Lower Township and three in Upper Township.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, there were nine new cases, including four in Lower Township and two in Ocean City.
Lower Township has had the brunt of COVID-19 cases in Cape May County with 354 since the numbers started being reported in the early spring. It also leads with the number of deaths – 43 – with 33 of them in long-term care.
Middle Township has had 311 cases and 13 deaths, 10 of them in long-term care.
Upper Township and Ocean City are next with 182 and 134 cases, respectively.
Ocean City has reported one community fatality and two long-term care fatalities. Upper Township has reported three fatalities, none in long-term care.
Woodbine and Dennis Township have had 130 and 128 coronavirus cases, respectively, and three community fatalities each. Woodbine has seen nine deaths in long-term care and Dennis Township has had eight deaths in long-term care.
Cape May Point has been the least impacted by COVID-19 with only one case during the pandemic, followed by West Cape May with nine and Stone Harbor and West Wildwood with 10 each.
Other case totals in the county include Wildwood with 84 cases (two deaths); North Wildwood with 73 cases (three deaths); Cape May, 39 cases (two deaths); Wildwood Crest, 32 cases (no fatalities); Sea Isle City, 29 cases (two deaths); Avalon, 23 cases (no fatalities).
Cape May County and Salem County are the counties with the least cases in the state over the course of the pandemic. Most of the cases have been focused around the counties closest to New York City.
There have been 14,496 confirmed deaths in New Jersey because of COVID-19 and another 1,789 suspected deaths from the coronavirus. As of Monday, there were 228,468 cases since the pandemic began, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.