Locally, 12,520 people have been infected by the virus and 580 have died from related complications. The latest to pass are residents of Camden City, Lindenwold, and Voorhees.
By Matt Skoufalos | November 1, 2020
NJDOH COVID-19 Dashboard – 11-1-20. Credit: NJDOH.
Another five Camden County residents have lost their battles with novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and 295 others have tested positive for the virus since last Tuesday, according to reports from the Camden County government.
That brings the local impact of the pandemic to 12,520 infected residents and 580 related deaths.
The most recently deceased are a Camden City woman in her 50s, a Lindenwold woman in her 50s, and three Voorhees residents; two women, one each in her 70s and 80s, and a man in his 70s.
‘If you don’t follow health directives, you’re playing Russian roulette with yourself and your family’
In a briefing last week, Camden County Freeholder John Young said the country appears headed for “what’s likely to be a very difficult period,” with “dangerously high surges in ICU usage and limited bed capacity.”
“It’s hard to compare where we are now compared to where we were in the earlier days of this pandemic,” Young said. “These are the kinds of developments that we worked so hard to prevent in the spring.
“I know we are all tired of the pandemic, but this fight is simply not over,” he said. “We need to double down here so we can really stop the spread of this virus. We need to get back to the mindset that we had five months ago.”
Young urged everyone who feels sick to get tested, and to remain home from work to avoid infecting others.
“I remember the days when I used to get a little cold, get a little cough, and I used to think it was the manly thing to do for me to get up and make sure I go to work every day,” he said. “This is a little bit different because this really affects a lot of people.
“We’re just asking you to take that pride and put it aside for a little bit, and just think about somebody else,” Young said. “It’s not necessarily about what’s going to happen to you… your neighbor or your coworker or somebody else might not be able to survive.”
Dr. Reginald Blaber, Virtua Health Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, said the number of COVID patients at Virtua hospitals has tripled in the past couple of weeks. In the spring, the average age of those patients was “well into the sixties,” Blaber said; nowadays, it’s 40.
If there is a bright side, the mortality rate of hospitalized patients is down to one-third what it was this spring, Blaber said, adding, “but let me be clear: people are still dying.
“Even young people are still dying,” he said. “If you’re choosing not to wear a mask, not to socially distance, not to wash your hands, to participate in parties indoors, you’re playing Russian roulette with yourself and your family.”
Throughout New Jersey, 239,629 people have been sickened by COVID-19, and 14,561 have perished from causes related to the virus. In addition to those lab-confirmed fatalities, the state also recognizes another 1,793 probable COVID-19-related deaths.
At the Camden County Office of Emergency Management, Cherry Hill Fire Chief Chris Callan oversees a delivery of personal protective gear for long-term care sites. Credit: Rich Ratner.
LTC cases and deaths
Long-term care (LTC) facilities account for half of all deaths in the state and almost one-fifth of those infected, and new cases continue to occur there.
Of 12,520 reported local COVID-19 cases, 2,213 (18 percent) have originated in a Camden County LTC facility: 1,555 are residents and 658 are staff.
LTCs are believed to be associated with 60 percent, or 346 of the 580 total deaths in Camden County: 343 were residents and three were staff.
At this time, 50 of the 56 LTCs in Camden County have experienced at least one case of COVID-19.
New cases
According to the New Jersey Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard, on November 1, Camden County led in the state in new COVID-19 cases, with 186.
The newest local cases (295) are:
- two Audubon women, one each in her 20s and 50s; and a man in his 20s
- six Barrington women, four in their 20s, and one each in her 30s and 80s; and two men, one each in his 60s and 80s
- six Bellmawr men, two each in their 50s and 60s, and one each in his 20s and 40s; and a woman in her 40s
- four Berlin Borough women, three in their 50s, one in her 60s, and a teenaged girl; and a man in his 40s
- three Berlin Township women, two in their 50s and one in her 30s
- 28 Camden City men, eight in their 30s, six each in their 40s and 50s, four in their 20s, three in their 60s, one in his 80s, two young boys, and two teenaged boys; and 22 women, five each in their 40s and 50s, four in their 60s, three in their 30s, two each in their 20s and 70s, one in her 80s, seven teenaged girls, and one young girl
- 14 Cherry Hill women, four each in their 20s, 30s, and 60s, one each in her 40s and 50s, and a teenaged girl; and eight men, three in their 40s, two each in their 30s and 60s, one in his 70s, and a teenaged boy
- a Chesilhurst man in his 60s
- a Clementon man in his 40s
- two Collingswood men in their 70s, and a woman in her 20s
- a Gibbsboro woman in her 60s
- three Gloucester City women, one each in her 20s, 40s, and 70s, and a teenaged girl
- 19 Gloucester Township women, eight in their 30s, four in their 40s, three each in their 20s and 60s, and one in her 70s; and 13 men, five in their 50s, two each in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, and one each in his 70s and 80s
- four Haddon Township women, one each in her 20s, 30s, 40s, and 80s; and a man in his 40s
- two Haddonfield men, one each in his 40s and 50s, a young boy, and a teenaged boy
- a Laurel Springs teenaged girl
- six Lawnside women, two each in their 20s and 80s, one each in her 50s and 60s, and a teenaged girl; and two men, one each in his 30s and 40s
- nine Lindenwold women, three in their 30s, two each in their 50s and 60s, and one each in her 20s and 40s; and three men, one each in his 30s, 40s, and 70s, and two young boys
- two Magnolia women, one each in her 20s and 50s; and a man in his 50s
- a Merchantville young boy
- an Oaklyn man in his 20s, and woman in her 30s
- 19 Pennsauken women, five in their 40s, four each in their 30s and 50s, three in their 60s, two in their 20s, one in her 70s, and two teenaged girls; and 16 men, four each in their 20s, 40s, and 60s, two in their 50s, one each in his 30s and 70s, and five teenaged boys
- four Pine Hill women, two in their 50s, and one each in her 30s and 80s; and two men in their 40s
- a Runnemede woman in her 40s
- two Somerdale men, one each in his 30s and 60s; and a woman in her 60s
- a Stratford man in his 40s, and woman in her 50s
- seven Voorhees men, three in their 20s, and one each in his 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s; and five women, two each in their 20s and 30s, and one in her 60s
- four Waterford women, two each in their 30s and 40s; and two men in their 30s, and a teenaged boy
- 13 Winslow men, three each in their 20s, 30s, and 50s, two each in their 40s and 70s, and a teenaged boy; and 13 women, four each in their 40s and 50s, three in their 30s, one each in her 20s and 60s, and a young girl
The Camden County and New Jersey Health Department are working to facilitate trace investigations into all cases.
