'High' COVID Risk In Long Valley, Cases Continue To Rise

LONG VALLEY, NJ — COVID-19 has not left the Long Valley area, which may carry a greater virus risk than most of the state.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morris County is one of 12 in New Jersey with "High" COVID-19 community levels, with the rest remaining at low or medium risk.

In the last seven days, 44 confirmed positive tests have been performed and reported to the Morris County Division of Public Health. As of Friday, the Department of Health reports that the state's average for daily confirmed cases is down 19 percent from a week ago but still up from 36 percent from a month ago.

Within the last day, Morris County reported an increase of 160 confirmed positive tests. In May, New Jersey reported 5,309 confirmed positive tests, the most since the winter omicron wave in late January.

The CDC's revised metrics, which were introduced in February, consider case rate by population over the previous seven days, as well as hospital admissions and hospital capacity.

In the previous week, the case rate in Morris County was 338 people per 100,000. However, only 52 people per 100,000 in Morris County were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 in the previous week, accounting for only 5 percent of local hospital beds.

Daily immunizations in the state averaged 7.9K, down from 12.2K four weeks ago. At the moment, 80.8 percent of all New Jersey residents aged five and up are fully immunized.

Additional breakdowns of vaccination statistics by location and age group can be found on the NJ COVID-19 Dashboard.

Read more: At Home COVID Test Kits: How, Where To Get More In Long Valley

Because of the increased number of positive cases, the CDC has recommended masks for use in public places and on public transportation in nine New Jersey counties for the first time since federal COVID-19 risk guidelines were updated in February.

As a result of the increased number of cases The Washington Township Health Department would like to remind residents that at-home COVID-19 tests are once again free of charge.