How Much Is COVID Spreading In Ocean County With Delta, Omicron

OCEAN COUNTY, NJ — Here's the weekly look at coronavirus cases in Ocean County, including town-by-town totals and a look at related data since the emergence of the delta and omicron variants this year.

These statistics from the Ocean County Health Department cover the days from Dec. 24-30, and again show a significant increase in the number of new positive cases over what had been seen for more than a month. There were an average of 646 new cases per day over the seven days, up from the 391 new cases per day from Dec. 18-23. That is fourfold increase from the 140 cases per day seen in November.

The county health department's dashboard showed new hospitalizations in Ocean County remained relatively flat since Nov. 22, averaging about one new hospitalization per day, with 22 recorded from Nov. 22 to Dec. 13, according to the county health department's dashboard. The dashboard shows just four new hospitalizations from Dec. 14-27.

Statewide, there were 3,604 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to the state COVID-19 dashboard. That number is a net increase of 3,405 since Dec. 23; there were 2,241 people hospitalized because of COVID-19 on Dec. 23, and there have been 2,042 people discharged from Dec. 23-30.

The county does not have a breakdown by day of how many COVID patients have been released from hospitals.

While the CDC revised its estimates of the prevalence of the omicron variant, the omicron variant was still estimated to be responsible for 58.6 percent of infections, while the delta variant was still linked to 41.1 percent of cases in recent weeks. The CDC variant proportions are based on representative CDC sequencing data gathered during a four-week period. In the four weeks ending Dec. 4, there were 4,246 New Jersey coronavirus test samples sequenced, according to the CDC.

Related: CDC Slashes Omicron Estimates: See Latest New Jersey Cases

Cases have been rising across New Jersey, and the entire state is listed as having "very high" COVID-19 activity, according to New Jersey's latest weekly report, through Dec. 25. The determination is based on metrics such as case rate, positivity rate and prevalence of COVID-like illnesses including fever and cough and shortness of breath. The Central East Region, which includes Ocean County, has the third-highest case rate in the state. That number nearly doubled in the last week, to 125.18 cases per 100,000 through Dec. 25 from 63.82 through Dec. 18; and it's nearly four times the 37.62 cases through Dec. 3. The rate of COVID-like illnesses increased to 18.55 percent, up from 13.02 percent last week and from 10.48 percent through Dec. 3. Percent positivity rose to 21.71 percent from 12.98 percent a week earlier.

There were 19 new deaths from Dec. 24-30, bringing the county's cumulative total to 2,298, according to Ocean County Health Department statistics.

The Ocean County Health Department data includes the town-by-town case totals. It also includes a breakdown by age of how many cases have been diagnosed in each age group.

The age breakdown is as follows for new infections reported from Dec. 23-29: 0-18, 827; 19-44, 1,931; 45-64, 1,143; 65-74, 321; 75-84, 187; 85+, 74; total 4,483

The total new cases town by town for Ocean County for the six days ending Dec. 30 are as follows:

• Barnegat Light: 1 new case, 47 total cases, 2.17 percent increase
• Barnegat Township: 184, 3,453 total cases, 5.63 percent increase
• Bay Head: 13 new cases, 121 total cases, 12.04 percent increase
• Beach Haven: 1 new case, 103 total cases, 0.98 percent increase
• Beachwood: 66 new cases, 1,805 total cases, 3.80 percent increase
• Berkeley Township: 265 new cases, 6,477 total cases, 4.27 percent increase
• Brick Township: 662 new cases, 13,792 total cases, 5.04 percent increase
• Eagleswood Township: 18 new cases, 245 total cases, 7.93 percent increase
• Harvey Cedars: 2 new cases, 28 total cases, 7.69 percent increase
• Island Heights: 9 new cases, 222 total cases, 4.23 percent increase
• Jackson Township: 534 new cases, 9,691 total cases, 5.83 percent increase
• Lacey Township: 193 new cases, 4,191 total cases, 4.83 percent increase
• Lakehurst: 11 new cases, 450 total cases, 2.51 percent increase
• Lakewood: 558 new cases, 18,642 total cases, 3.09 percent increase
• Lavallette: 16 new cases, 248 total cases, 6.90 percent increase
• Little Egg Harbor Township: 134 new cases, 2,900 total cases, 4.84 percent increase
• Long Beach Township: 8 new cases, 274 total cases, 3.01 percent increase
• Manchester: 269 new cases, 6,169 total cases, 4.56 percent increase
• Mantoloking: 3 new cases, 43 total cases, 7.50 percent increase
• Ocean Gate: 9 new cases, 273 total cases, 3.41 percent increase
• Ocean Twp. (Waretown): 63 new cases, 1,096 total cases, 6.10 percent increase
• Pine Beach: 17 new cases, 293 total cases, 6.16 percent increase
• Plumsted Township: 56 new cases, 1,099 total cases, 5.37 percent increase
• Point Pleasant Beach: 47 new cases, 715 total cases, 7.04 percent increase
• Point Pleasant: 215 new cases, 3,695 total cases, 6.18 percent increase
• Seaside Heights: 14 new cases, 403 total cases, 3.60 percent increase
• Seaside Park: 8 new cases, 162 total cases, 5.19 percent increase
• Ship Bottom: 6 new cases, 146 total cases, 4.29 percent increase
• South Toms River: 23 new cases, 608 total cases, 3.93 percent increase
• Stafford Township: 225 new cases, 3,848 total cases, 6.21 percent increase
• Surf City: 23 new cases, 128 total cases, 21.90 percent increase
• Toms River: 796 new cases, 16,203 total cases, 5.16 percent increase
• Tuckerton: 17 new cases, 422 total cases, 4.20 percent increase

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