Around Brick: School Plans Delayed, Road Project Grant Awarded

BRICK, NJ — The rising numbers of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 are having a growing impact in Brick, prompting the school district to further delay its plans for expanded in-person instruction.

On Friday, the district announced it would be postponing the move to four days a week of in-person instruction until after winter break. That decision came as the district saw more than a dozen new cases of the virus that forced 12 classrooms to shift to remote instruction.

"Schools are open, we are only delaying our plan's timeline," Superintendent Thomas Farrell said in a letter posted on the district's website. Read more: Brick Schools Postpone Plan For 4 Days In Person As COVID Spikes

Ocean County has moved to "High Risk" on the state's COVID-19 Regional Risk Matrix, and surpassed 20,000 cases as of Sunday, with 20,073, up 1,452 from the 18,621 on Nov. 21. Brick Township has 267 new cases in that time, from 1,944 on Nov. 21 to 2,211 as of Sunday, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

Statewide, New Jersey now has more than 306,000 cases since March, including 3,998 new ones on Sunday, according to the state Department of Health COVID-19 website. As of Saturday, 2,563 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus, with 466 in intensive care and 237 patients on ventilators, according to the state COVID-19 website.

The district also halted the football season for Brick Township High School due to a coronavirus case. Read more: Brick High School Football Ends Season Due To Coronavirus Case

The rise in cases has led to a rise in demand for testing. The Ocean County Health Department will have expanded hours at its test site at Ocean County College.

Around town

The Brick Township Council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday and will take questions via Zoom. Information on accessing the meeting is published on the council's agenda.

The township received a $417,000 grant for a joint project with Toms River to elevate some streets in the Normandy Beach area. It may be a topic for the meeting. Read more: Brick Awarded $417K For Normandy Beach Road Elevation Project

Township offices will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving; garbage and recycling pick-up normally set for Thursday will be postponed a day.

Here are other headlines for Brick:

• John F. Callaghan, NJ Youth Soccer Hall Of Famer, Mourned
• Paroled Sex Offender From Brick Arrested On Child Porn Charge
• Brick Man Charged With Drug Distribution By Street Crimes Unit

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