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 145 new cases per day, up from 128 new cases per day for the week ending Nov. 12, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

There were eight new COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ocean County from Nov. 1-8, according to the county health department's dashboard. The hospitalizations data had not been updated in the last week. 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.

Officials continue to monitor the delta variant, which accounted for 98.87 percent of coronavirus cases in New Jersey over a four-week period ending on Oct. 23, CDC numbers show. That is a slight increase from the previous week, where 98.67 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 3,178 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. 13. 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 16.92 cases per 100,000, a rate of 6.08 percent for COVID-like illnesses and a 4.97 percent positivity rate.

There were 13 new deaths from Nov. 12-19, bringing the county's cumulative total to 2,217, 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. 18: 0-18, 244; 19-44, 377; 45-64, 237; 65-74, 83; 75-84, 52; 85+, 21; total 1,014

The seven-day totals for Ocean County as of Nov. 19 are as follows:

• Barnegat Light: 0 new cases, 42 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Barnegat Township: 58, 2,788 total cases, 2.12 percent increase
• Bay Head: 2 new cases, 96 total cases, 2.13 percent increase
• Beach Haven: 0 new cases, 97 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Beachwood: 26 new cases, 1,538 total cases, 1.72 percent increase
• Berkeley Township: 80 new cases, 5,543 total cases, 1.46 percent increase
• Brick Township: 148 new cases, 11,446 total cases, 1.29 percent increase
• Eagleswood Township: 2 new case, 198 total cases, 1.02 percent increase
• Harvey Cedars: 0 new cases, 23 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Island Heights: 1 new case, 182 total cases, 0.55 percent increase
• Jackson Township: 80 new cases, 8,182 total cases, 0.99 percent increase
• Lacey Township: 59 new cases, 3,559 total cases, 1.69 percent increase
• Lakehurst: 7 new cases, 395 total cases, 1.80 percent increase
• Lakewood: 169 new cases, 17,227 total cases, 1.20 percent increase
• Lavallette: 2 new cases, 209 total cases, 0.97 percent increase
• Little Egg Harbor Township: 35 new cases, 2,388 total cases, 1.49 percent increase
• Long Beach Township: 0 new cases, 252 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Manchester: 53 new cases, 5,355 total cases, 0.99 percent increase
• Mantoloking: 0 new cases, 32 total cases, 0 percent increase
• Ocean Gate: 4 new cases, 235 total cases, 1.73 percent increase
• Ocean Twp. (Waretown): 21 new cases, 904 total cases, 2.38 percent increase
• Pine Beach: 10 new cases, 251 total cases, 4.15 percent increase
• Plumsted Township: 11 new cases, 898 total cases, 1.24 percent increase
• Point Pleasant Beach: 6 new cases, 599 total cases, 1.01 percent increase
• Point Pleasant: 34 new cases, 2,984 total cases, 1.15 percent increase
• Seaside Heights: 1 new case, 347 total cases, 0.29 percent increase
• Seaside Park: 1 new cases, 141 total cases, 0.71 percent increase
• Ship Bottom: 4 new cases, 130 total cases, 3.17 percent increase
• South Toms River: 5 new cases, 528 total cases, 0.96 percent increase
• Stafford Township: 38 new cases, 3,235 total cases, 1.19 percent increase
• Surf City: 4 new cases, 88 total cases, 4.76 percent increase
• Toms River: 146 new cases, 13,684 total cases, 1.08 percent increase
• Tuckerton: 7 new cases, 359 total cases, 1.99 percent increase

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