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.

The spread of the coronavirus ticked up slightly over the last week, with an average of 128 new cases per day, up from 121 new cases per day for the week ending Nov. 6, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

Hospitalizations in Ocean County ticked up as well, with just eight new hospitalizations from Nov. 1-8, according to the county health department's dashboard. There had been 30 hospitalizations in the month of October, with the number waning late in the month. 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.

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. 16, CDC numbers show. That is a slight decrease from the previous week, where 98.99 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 3,026 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. 6. 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 second-highest case rate in the state at 13.39 cases per 100,000, a rate of 5.99 percent for COVID-like illnesses and a 4.34 percent positivity rate.

There were 14 new deaths from Oct. 30 to Nov. 6, bringing the county's cumulative total to 2,204, 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, 223; 19-44, 331; 45-64, 200; 65-74, 84; 75-84, 35; 85+, 22; total 895

The seven-day totals for Ocean County as of Nov. 12 are as follows:

• Barnegat Light: 1 new case, 42 total cases, 2.44 percent increase
• Barnegat Township: 42, 2,730 total cases, 1.561 percent increase
• Bay Head: 0 new cases, 94 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Beach Haven: 0 new cases, 97 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Beachwood: 11 new cases, 1,512 total cases, 0.74 percent increase
• Berkeley Township: 68 new cases, 5,463 total cases, 1.26 percent increase
• Brick Township: 116 new cases, 11,446 total cases, 1.02 percent increase
• Eagleswood Township: 1 new case, 196 total cases, 0.52 percent increase
• Harvey Cedars: 0 new cases, 23 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Island Heights: 3 new cases, 181 total cases, 1.69 percent increase
• Jackson Township: 61 new cases, 8,102 total cases, 0.76 percent increase
• Lacey Township: 40 new cases, 3,500 total cases, 1.16 percent increase
• Lakehurst: 0 new cases, 388 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Lakewood: 165 new cases, 17,058 total cases, 0.98 percent increase
• Lavallette: 1 new case, 207 total cases, 0.49 percent increase
• Little Egg Harbor Township: 39 new cases, 2,353 total cases, 1.69 percent increase
• Long Beach Township: 2 new cases, 252 total cases, 0.80 percent increase
• Manchester: 64 new cases, 5,302 total cases, 1.22 percent increase
• Mantoloking: 0 new cases, 32 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Ocean Gate: 5 new cases, 231 total cases, 2.21 percent increase
• Ocean Twp. (Waretown): 17 new cases, 883 total cases, 1.96 percent increase
• Pine Beach: 2 new cases, 241 total cases, 0.84 percent increase
• Plumsted Township: 10 new cases, 887 total cases, 1.14 percent increase
• Point Pleasant Beach: 1 new case, 593 total cases, 0.17 percent increase
• Point Pleasant: 25 new cases, 2,950 total cases, 0.85 percent increase
• Seaside Heights: 4 new cases, 346 total cases, 1.17 percent increase
• Seaside Park: 2 new cases, 140 total cases, 1.45 percent increase
• Ship Bottom: 2 new cases, 126 total cases, 1.61 percent increase
• South Toms River: 10 new cases, 523 total cases, 1.95 percent increase
• Stafford Township: 37 new cases, 3,197 total cases, 1.17 percent increase
• Surf City: 0 new cases, 84 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Toms River: 157 new cases, 13,538 total cases, 1.17 percent increase
• Tuckerton: 8 new cases, 352 total cases, 2.33 percent increase

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