Gloucester County COVID-19 Cases In 'Orange Zone:' See Updates

GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NJ — The coronavirus continues to take a grim toll on Gloucester County, impacting local businesses and schools in the region, according to updated state data.

The state Department of Health's most recent "COVID-19 Activity Level Report," which is issued weekly, says Gloucester County is now in the “orange zone" for coronavirus cases, dropping from the "red" zone in recent weeks.

There are four "zones" used by the state to designate coronavirus spread in a particular region. The "red zone" means the daily new COVID-19 virus case rate, per 100,000 people, is "very high."

That means they exceed 25 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day average. The "orange" zone means they have a rate of 10 to 25 cases per 100,000 people. The "yellow" zone means there have been between 1 and 10 cases per 100,000 people, and the "green zone" means there has been less than one case per 100,000 people.

The latest reports say the overall coronavirus activity level is either "moderate," or "yellow," or "high," or "orange," in all New Jersey counties.

"When it is high risk, there are some recommendations that we make together with local school boards," said Edward Lifshitz, medical director for the state Department of Health.

Indeed, a number of school districts have shifted to remote instruction as the numbers have risen.

The overall coronavirus risk rose to "high" in each of the counties because:

• The new daily case rate in each of the counties rose to 10 or more per 100,000 people.
• The percent of COVID-19-like illnesses rose above 5.52 in each of the counties.
• The percent of positive cases rose above 10.01.

As of Friday, Gloucester County has conducted 144,227 total tests. Of these cases, 124,799 have come back negative. One case has been moved out of the county. Gloucester County’s total positive COVID-19 case count is now 19,364. Gloucester County is reporting 499 deaths.