9 NJ Counties In Red Zone: White House Coronavirus Task Force – Patch.com

NEW JERSEY — Nine of New Jersey’s 21 counties are in the red zone when it comes to the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, the White House Coronavirus Task Force said in a recent report. Red zones have more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents and a diagnostic test positivity result of above 10 percent.

The reports, while not made public by the task force, have been obtained by The Center for Public Integrity. The most recent report made available is dated Nov. 22.

Overall, New Jersey is classified in the red zone for COVID-19 cases and has since the Nov. 1 report. No counties were classified in the red zone in the Nov. 1 report.

The latest report shows just how sharply the pandemic escalated in November.

According to the Nov. 22 report, the following New Jersey counties are classified in the red zone:

  • Atlantic
  • Burlington
  • Camden
  • Essex
  • Gloucester
  • Hudson
  • Mercer
  • Passaic
  • Union

Four counties are listed in the orange zone in the Nov. 22 report. Those include Bergen, Middlesex, Salem and Warren. Counties in the orange zone reported between 51 and 100 new cases per 100,000 residents and a diagnostic test positivity result between 8 and 10 percent.

New Jersey currently has a statewide positivity rate of 9.6 percent, which is the 32nd highest positivity rate in the country, according to the Nov. 22 task force report.

The report also notes that during the week of Nov. 9 – 15, 20 percent of nursing homes had at least one new resident who was diagnosed with the coronavirus, 36 percent at least one staff member who was diagnosed with the disease and 3 percent had at least one new resident who died of COVID-19.

As a result of the accelerating outbreak, the report offers several recommendations to help slow the pandemic’s continuing onslaught.

Here are some of the highlights; you can view the full recommendations here (on page 241 of the report):

  • New Jerseyans have shown that they can fight the virus; the task force is confident that they “will rise to the occasion again.”
  • Conduct active testing in school for teachers and students where cases are increasing. In accordance with CDC guidelines, masks must be worn by students and teachers in K-12 schools.
  • Consider pausing extracurricular school activities, even though athletics are not transmission risks, as the surrounding activities are where transmission is occurring.
  • Stay vigilant with nursing home staff and residents; nearly 40 percent of nursing homes have COVID positive staff and over 20 percent have COVID positive residents, indicating unmitigated community spread. Ensure all nursing homes, assisted living, and elderly care sites have full testing capacity and are isolating positive staff and residents.
  • New hospital admissions in New Jersey are increasing, especially with those over 40 years old.
  • Ensure all hospitals have expansion and contingency plans and up-to-date treatment protocols, including outpatient management; ensure all hospitals, public and private, have maximal access to medications, supplies, and staffing and are accurately reporting current status of each.
  • Ensure full flu immunizations across the state.

The latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report for New Jersey comes as cases continue to explode throughout the state.

New Jersey on Wednesday added 4,350 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 346,206. Another 146 confirmed deaths were reported on Dec. 1st and 2nd, the highest two-day total since June.

Read more:

Gov. Phil Murphy says he’s not ready to close school buildings statewide and shift instruction to remote, despite another report showing that the coronavirus risk is now “high” in all 21 New Jersey counties.

Murphy said this week that New Jersey’s schools have had a very small number of cases, all of which were likely caused by contact that happened outside of the buildings.

“I do not anticipate as a broad statewide matter that schools are going to close in New Jersey,” he said. “I will be very surprised if they do. That option has to stay on the table.”

Murphy, speaking during Monday and Wednesday news conferences, was responding to the state Department of Health’s most recent “COVID-19 Activity Level Report,” which is issued weekly.

The newest report says the coronavirus activity level rose from “moderate” to “high” over the past week in three New Jersey counties — Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland. Now, all 21 are at the “high” level

With the rise to a “high” level, state officials said, school districts in those counties may have to take more serious steps — such as quarantining or even shutting down schools — if a child shows the symptoms of COVID-19.

“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.

With reporting by Kara Seymour