Camden County: 11 COVID-19 Related Deaths, 4,354 Local Cases, Major Data Reconciliation

Another 60 Camden County residents have tested positive for the virus, as the local death toll hits 241 lives claimed during the pandemic. Plus: the county reconciles its COVID-19 reporting process with statewide systems.

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By Matt Skoufalos | May 13, 2020

NJDOH COVID-19 Dashboard – 5-13-20. Credit: NJDOH.

Another 60 Camden County residents have been sickened by novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Camden County government reported Monday, bringing the local caseload to 4,354 patients.

Throughout New Jersey, 141,560 people have been sickened by COVID-19 and 9,702 have perished from related causes.

Eleven of the dead were Camden County residents, as the local toll climbed to 241 fatalities Wednesday.

The deceased are:

• a Berlin man in his 80s
• a Camden City woman in her 70s
• three Cherry Hill Township women, one each in her 60s, 70s, and 90s; and a man in his 90s
• a Gloucester Township woman in her 60s
• a Voorhees Township man in his 70s, and woman in her 90s
• two Winslow Township men, one each in his 50s and 90s

Of 4,354 local COVID-19 cases, 1,083 have originated in a Camden County long-term care (LTC) facility, or 25 percent.

LTCs are believed to be associated with 180 of 241 total local deaths, or 75 percent. About half of the 56 LTCs in Camden County (27) have experienced at least one case of COVID-19.

“I will never grow used to making these tragic announcements, and long for the day that we will have rid ourselves of this deadly virus, which continues to rip cherished members of our community from their loved ones,” Camden County Freeholder-Director Lou Cappelli said in a statement.

“We are continuing to see the results of our county’s hard work and sacrifice to stay apart and stop the spread of this virus,” Cappelli said. “If we continue to observe these practices and take this threat seriously, we will get through this unprecedented crisis together.”

On Wednesday, the county also announced a major data reconciliation in its records, harmonizing six weeks of backlogged data spanning 897 patient cases, and explaining why the county data have so frequently differed from those reported in the state dashboard.

The Camden County Health Department receives its data from the state’s Communicable Disease Reporting and Surveillance System (CDRS).

After a resident is tested for COVID-19, their case data is first placed in the system by the lab that receives that test. After processing the test, the lab transmits the positive result into the CDRS system.

However, once that information is confirmed, it can still lack significant primary identifying case structure information based on the lab data entry. The county DOH then takes whatever information the lab provides out of CDRS and moves forward with its contact tracing investigation, and, per Attorney General guidelines, provides pertinent information to the computer aided dispatch system of local law enforcement. 

“Several interconnected events” led to the confirmed case backlog, the county said in a statement, including the establishment of new labs processing COVID-19 tests according to different systems, patient results being associated with different communities than their residences, repeat tests of the same individuals, and hundreds of tests submitted from apartment buildings without differentiating addresses.

Finally, the county noted also that the state reporting system “was never created for this level of use,” which has further contributed to reporting delays.

“We have gone through a variety of challenges in getting our numbers throughout this pandemic,” said Camden County Health Officer Paschal Nwako in a statement.

“This process was time-consuming and warranted so we could confirm the proper case count that reflects the state’s numbers and harmonizes our metrics with our counterparts at the state,” Nwako said.

“Moving forward, we will continue to update residents on a daily basis on what the labs and the state are providing us and continue to ensure the most accurate information can be found on our website throughout this pandemic,” he said.

The reconciled case totals as reported today are:

The newest local cases are:

• 11 Camden City women, three each in their 20s and 30s, two each in their 40s and 50s, and a teenaged girl; and eight men, four in their 20s, and two each in their 30s and 50s
• eight Cherry Hill Township men, three in their 30s, two each in their 20s and 60s, and one in his 50s; and three women, two in their 20s and one in her 80s
• a Collingswood woman in her 20s
• a Gloucester City woman in her 20s
• a Gloucester Township man in his 20s, and woman in her 30s
• two Haddon Township men, one each in his 20s and 40s; and a woman in her 40s
• a Haddonfield woman in her 80s
• a Lawnside man in his 50s
• a Lindenwold man in his 30s
• a Magnolia woman in her 30s
• six Pennsauken Township women, two each in their 30s and 40s, and one each in her 60s and 70s; and two men, one each in his 60s and 70s
• a Pine Hill man in his 50s
• four Voorhees Township men, two in their 80s, and one each in his 40s and 50s; and two women, one each in her 70s and 80s
• a Waterford Township man in his 50s
• two Winslow Township men, one each in his 60s and 70s
• a Woodlynne man in his 20s

The Camden County and New Jersey Health Departments are working to facilitate trace investigations into all cases.

Read our ongoing round-up of COVID-19 coverage here.

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