Cherry Hill Tops County In Coronavirus Deaths With 84

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Eighty-four Cherry Hill residents have now died after testing positive for coronavirus, according to data provided by Camden County officials. It is the highest number of fatalities due to coronavirus connected to a single town in Camden County, followed by Voorhees, whose number rose to 56 on Wednesday.

As of Tuesday, 80 residents had died as a result of the virus, according to the county website. The state lists 86 fatalities connected to nursing homes in Cherry Hill. The county has asked the state to take over testing at Avista Healthcare and Premier Cadbury, which have struggled with the number of cases. Read more here: State Monitors Requested For 2 Cherry Hill Nursing Homes

On Tuesday, State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli ordered all long-term care facilities in the state to implement testing of staff and residents for the virus by May 26.

“Widespread testing is the only way our LTCs can get a handle on how many of their residents have contracted the virus and ensure that they do not spread it to others within the facility,” Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. said. “This is a necessary action to protect our vulnerable residents in these facilities which have already faced a devastating impact caused by coronavirus. The county asked these facilities to take up this objective in April, I applaud the state for mandating this vital initiative for resident and staff safety in all of our 56 organizations.”

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Four more Cherry Hill residents died after testing positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday. They were among 11 new deaths reported in Camden County on Wednesday. There have been 241 deaths countywide, 180 of which have been connected to nursing homes.

The following information is available about the new Camden County deaths:

• A Gloucester Township woman in her 60s;
• A Winslow man in his 50s;
• A Cherry Hill woman in her 60s;
• A Voorhees woman in her 90s;
• A Winslow man in his 90s;
• A Cherry Hill man in his 90s;
• A Voorhees man in his 70s;
• A Cherry Hill woman in her 90s;
• A Berlin Borough man in his 80s;
• A Camden woman in her 70s; and
• A Cherry Hill woman in her 70s.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce 11 additional fatalities caused by COVID-19 in Camden County. I will never grow used to making these tragic announcements and long for the day that we will have rid ourselves of this deadly virus which continues to rip cherished members of our community from their loved ones,” Cappelli said. “We are extremely encouraged that despite the inclusion of cases that we were unable to report yesterday due to a system outage, today’s figure remains low. We are continuing to see the results of our county’s hard work and sacrifice to stay apart and stop the spread of this virus. If we continue to observe these practices and take this threat seriously, we will get through this unprecedented crisis together.”

Ten Cherry Hill residents were among 60 new cases reported in Camden County on Wednesday. There are now 731 coronavirus cases in Cherry Hill.

Countywide, there are now 4,354 positive cases, 1,083 of which have been connected to nursing homes. Trace investigations are underway in all new cases. The following information is available on the new Cherry Hill cases:

• A woman in her 80s;
• A man in his 50s;
• Three men in their 30s;
• A man in his 60s;
• Two men in their 20s; and
• Two women in their 20s.

On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that non-essential retail stores will reopen for online and phone ordering and curbside pickup. Non-essential construction will also be allowed to re-start. This will all become effective 6 a.m. Monday morning. Read more here: Gov. Phil Murphy To Reopen NJ Businesses Amid Coronavirus

The reopening comes as Murphy has said he plans to provide "hard dates" for restarting New Jersey's economy this week. Read more: Gov. Murphy: 'Hard Dates' Coming For NJ Coronavirus Reopening

Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know