COVID-19 Delta Variant Spread Continues To Slow In Ocean County

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 variant earlier this year.

The spread of the coronavirus slowed again over the last week, with an average of 121 new cases per day, down from 139 new cases per day for the week ending Oct. 29, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

Hospitalizations in Ocean County have decreased significantly, with just one new hospitalization from Oct. 28-Nov. 1, according to the county health department's dashboard. There had been 29 hospitalizations from Oct. 1 through Oct. 25, and that was a decrease over the numbers seen in August and September. The county does not have a breakdown by day of how many COVID patients have been released from hospitals.

Daniel Regenye, the public health coordinator, has said that under 15 percent of new COVID-19 cases in Ocean County in recent weeks are breakthrough infections in people who have been vaccinated.

However, people who have had breakthrough cases in Ocean County are faring much better, he said.

"The vast majority of those admitted to the hospital are unvaccinated," he said, and people who are in critical care units and intensive care units with COVID-19 "are almost entirely unvaccinated."

"Those that are vaccinated are experiencing much less severe symptoms," Regenye said.

The county continues to look at the data on COVID-19 to try to better reach people with information about the illness, the vaccines and the risks that have people hesitant to receive the vaccine.

That includes looking at the data surrounding deaths in Ocean County. He said the deaths involving long-term care facilities have been few over the last several months, but trying to pin down the ages of those who have died more recently has been difficult.

He said he understands the frustration that people have with wanting more data overall about the impacts of COVID-19.

"We are trying to figure out who are these people who are dying, so we know where we need to do more work" in providing information to the public.

Officials continue to monitor the delta variant, which accounted for 98.63 percent of coronavirus cases in New Jersey over a four-week period ending on Oct. 9, CDC numbers show. That is a slight decrease from the previous week, where 99.8 percent of samples were of the delta variant. The CDC variant proportions are based on representative CDC sequencing data gathered during that four-week period. There were 2,901 New Jersey samples that underwent sequencing during that time.

Ocean County and all of the Central Jersey East region has "high" COVID-19 activity, according to New Jersey's latest weekly report, through Oct. 31. 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 region has the third-highest case rate in the state at 12.94 cases per 100,000, a rate of 5.74 percent for COVID-like illnesses and a 4.09 percent positivity rate.

There were just four new deaths from Oct. 23 to Oct. 29, bringing the county's cumulative total to 2,190, according to Ocean County Health Department statistics.

The Ocean County Health Department data includes the seven-day 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 cases reported as of Nov. 4: 0-18, 224; 19-44, 308; 45-64, 165; 65-74, 86; 75-84, 44; 85+, 18; total 845

The seven-day totals for Ocean County as of Nov. 5 are as follows:

• Barnegat Light: 0 new cases, 41 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Barnegat Township: 19, 2,688 total cases, 0.71 percent increase
• Bay Head: 1 new case, 94 total cases, 1.08 percent increase
• Beach Haven: 1 new case, 97 total cases, 1.04 percent increase
• Beachwood: 13 new cases, 1,501 total cases, 0.87 percent increase
• Berkeley Township: 64 new cases, 5,395 total cases, 1.20 percent increase
• Brick Township: 94 new cases, 11,330 total cases, 0.84 percent increase
• Eagleswood Township: 2 new cases, 195 total cases, 1.04 percent increase
• Harvey Cedars: 1 new case, 23 total cases, 4.54 percent increase
• Island Heights: 1 new case, 178 total cases, 0.56 percent increase
• Jackson Township: 69 new cases, 8,041 total cases, 0.87 percent increase
• Lacey Township: 37 new cases, 3,460 total cases, 1.08 percent increase
• Lakehurst: 4 new cases, 388 total cases, 1.04 percent increase
• Lakewood: 178 new cases, 16,893 total cases, 1.06 percent increase
• Lavallette: 1 new case, 206 total cases, 0.49 percent increase
• Little Egg Harbor Township: 42 new cases, 2,314 total cases, 1.85 percent increase
• Long Beach Township: 2 new cases, 250 total cases, 0.81 percent increase
• Manchester: 74 new cases, 5,237 total cases, 1.43 percent increase
• Mantoloking: 0 new cases, 32 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Ocean Gate: 8 new cases, 226 total cases, 3.67 percent increase
• Ocean Twp. (Waretown): 19 new cases, 866 total cases, 2.24 percent increase
• Pine Beach: 3 new cases, 239 total cases, 1.27 percent increase
• Plumsted Township: 12 new cases, 877 total cases, 1.39 percent increase
• Point Pleasant Beach: 2 new cases, 592 total cases, 0.34 percent increase
• Point Pleasant: 25 new cases, 2,925 total cases, 0.86 percent increase
• Seaside Heights: 3 new cases, 342 total cases, 0.88 percent increase
• Seaside Park: 4 new cases, 138 total cases, 2.99 percent increase
• Ship Bottom: 0 new cases, 124 total cases, 0 percent increase
• South Toms River: 6 new cases, 513 total cases, 1.18 percent increase
• Stafford Township: 34 new cases, 3,160 total cases, 1.09 percent increase
• Surf City: 2 new cases, 84 total cases, 2.44 percent increase
• Toms River: 106 new cases, 13,381 total cases, 0.87 percent increase
• Tuckerton: 7 new cases, 344 total cases, 2.08 percent increase

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