Those communities had been among lowest in county during pandemic
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
While Middle, Lower and Upper townships continue to have the most active COVID-19 cases among residents, Avalon and Sea Isle are at the top of the list for active non-resident cases.
Those two communities had been among the lower in number of cases in the county throughout the pandemic.
On Monday, July 27, the Cape May County Department of Health reported Avalon had 27 active cases among visitors to the community and Sea Isle City had 21. Respectively, Avalon had four cases among residents and Sea Isle had eight. Stone Harbor had the next highest number of cases among visitors at nine. North Wildwood had six, Ocean City had five and Lower Township and Wildwood had three each.
Lower Township had 22 active cases among the community’s residents, Middle Township had 25 and Upper Township had 22. There were no active cases in Upper Township among visitors and only one in Middle Township.
The city of Cape May had 11 active cases among residents and one infected non-resident. There were 10 cases in Dennis Township, seven in Ocean City, five each in North Wildwood and Stone Harbor.
Overall, there were 125 active cases among residents and 77 among non-residents.
For new reports of COVID-19 on Monday, there were eight overall, including three each in Upper Township and Sea Isle, and two in Lower Township among residents and one each among visitors in Avalon and Sea Isle.
There were only three new cases among county residents Sunday and two among non-residents.
Cape May County had reached 959 cases as of Sunday and 81 deaths. Of the fatalities, 55 have been in long-term care facilities, including 33 in Lower Township, and 26 in the communities. Also in long-term care, Woodbine and Dennis Township have had seven fatalities each, Middle Township had six, and Ocean City two.
Lower Township also reported eight fatalities among residents, the most of any county community. Upper Township, Middle Township, Dennis Township and North Wildwood have had three fatalities, Cape May and Woodbine two each and one each in Ocean City and Wildwood.
The numbers of new cases have varied over the past week.
On Saturday, there were seven new cases among residents and five among visitors. On Friday, there were 15 new cases among residents and only one among visitors. Upper Township had four of those cases, Dennis and Middle had three each and Avalon, Lower, Sea Isle, Stone Harbor and Wildwood had none.
On Thursday, there were only six new cases among residents and four among visitors and on Wednesday, July 22, there were six among residents and three among non-residents.
On July 22, an 84-year-old Lower Township man reportedly succumbed to complications from the coronavirus and on July 21, a 78-year-old man from North Wildwood died from complications.
Drive-thru testing will be Thursday
The Department of Health and CompleteCare Network are opening a drive-thru – by appointment only – at the Cape May County Fire Academy, 171 Crest Haven Road, Cape May Court House. Appointments begin at 8 a.m. and other testing dates will be announced based on community need.
Persons requesting tests do not have to be symptomatic.
Appointments for screenings can be requested by visiting CompleteCareNJ.org and clicking the Request an Appointment tab or calling (609) 465-0258. To help save time, using the website is recommended.