How Much Is COVID Spreading In Ocean County With Delta Variant

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.

These statistics from the Ocean County Health Department cover the days from Nov. 25-Dec. 3, because of a shortened reporting period before Thanksgiving. They show a significant increase in the number of new positive cases over what had been seen for more than a month, with an average of 221 new cases, up from the average of 142 new cases from Nov. 20-24. The average cases per day had been hovering around 140 for more than a month.

The county health department's dashboard did not have updated figures on hospitalizations in Ocean County; there had been 29 from Nov. 1-21, according to the county health department's dashboard. 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 less than 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 delta variant accounted for 99.23 percent of coronavirus cases in New Jersey over a four-week period ending on No.v 6, CDC numbers show. That is a slight increase from the previous week, where 99.1 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 3,378 New Jersey samples that underwent sequencing during that time.

Ocean County and all of the Central Jersey East region continue to have "high" COVID-19 activity, according to New Jersey's latest weekly report, through Nov. 27. 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 and that number rose to 21.80 cases per 100,000 through Nov. 27 from 19.95 cases through Nov. 20. The rate COVID-like illnesses and percent positivity both increased as well, with the COVID-like illnesses at 7.86 percent, up from 6.93 percent, and positivity at 6.70 percent, up from 5.54 percent through Nov. 20.

There were 11 new deaths from Nov. 25-Dec. 3, bringing the county's cumulative total to 2,233, 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 Dec. 2: 0-18, 543; 19-44, 755; 45-64, 456; 65-74, 124; 75-84, 77; 85+, 35; total 1,990

The nine-day totals for Ocean County as of Dec. 3 are as follows:

• Barnegat Light: 1 new case, 43 total cases, 2.38 percent increase
• Barnegat Township: 92, 2,920 total cases, 3.25 percent increase
• Bay Head: 6 new cases, 102 total cases, 6.25 percent increase
• Beach Haven: 0 new cases, 99 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Beachwood: 57 new cases, 1,616 total cases, 3.66 percent increase
• Berkeley Township: 157 new cases, 5,749 total cases, 2.81 percent increase
• Brick Township: 292 new cases, 11,972 total cases, 2.50 percent increase
• Eagleswood Township: 2 new cases, 202 total cases, 1.00 percent increase
• Harvey Cedars: 0 new cases, 23 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Island Heights: 6 new cases, 190 total cases, 3.26 percent increase
• Jackson Township: 233 new cases, 8,452 total cases, 2.82 percent increase
• Lacey Township: 122 new cases, 3,722 total cases, 3.39 percent increase
• Lakehurst: 7 new cases, 411 total cases, 1.73 percent increase
• Lakewood: 180 new cases, 17,484 total cases, 1.04 percent increase
• Lavallette: 5 new cases, 215 total cases, 2.38 percent increase
• Little Egg Harbor Township: 95 new cases, 2,523 total cases, 3.91 percent increase
• Long Beach Township: 5 new cases, 258 total cases, 1.98 percent increase
• Manchester: 109 new cases, 5,519 total cases, 2.01 percent increase
• Mantoloking: 0 new cases, 32 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Ocean Gate: 5 new cases, 244 total cases, 2.09 percent increase
• Ocean Twp. (Waretown): 28 new cases, 938 total cases, 3.08 percent increase
• Pine Beach: 5 new cases, 261 total cases, 1.95 percent increase
• Plumsted Township: 34 new cases, 939 total cases, 3.76 percent increase
• Point Pleasant Beach: 8 new cases, 608 total cases, 1.33 percent increase
• Point Pleasant: 103 new cases, 3,105 total cases, 3.43 percent increase
• Seaside Heights: 7 new cases, 354 total cases, 2.02 percent increase
• Seaside Park: 4 new cases, 146 total cases, 2.82 percent increase
• Ship Bottom: 0 new cases, 133 total cases, 0 percent increase
• South Toms River: 10 new cases, 546 total cases, 1.87 percent increase
• Stafford Township: 79 new cases, 3,341 total cases, 2.42 percent increase
• Surf City: 3 new cases, 93 total cases, 3.33 percent increase
• Toms River: 363 new cases, 14,171 total cases, 2.63 percent increase
• Tuckerton: 10 new cases, 373 total cases, 2.75 percent increase

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