Coronavirus In Somerset County: 183 Deaths, 2,688 Cases

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — According to state health officials, Somerset County saw nearly 400 new cases of the new coronavirus and 17 new deaths due to the disease Wednesday, making for a total of 2,688 cases and 183 deaths since the pandemic began.

The numbers represent about a 10 percent increase over Tuesday, when officials reported 2,300 cases of the virus county-wide.

Within Somerset county, the Franklin area has been hit the hardest, with 715 confirmed cases and almost a third of the county's total deaths at 54 fatalities.

Despite the jump in cases Somerset remains in the middle of the pack, far below some of the hardest hit counties. Bergen county is reporting 13,686 confirmed cases of the virus and 876 total deaths.

The latest numbers come after New Jersey marked its deadliest day yet on Tuesday, when 379 people died statewide. New Jersey remains a hotbed for coronavirus activity with a a total of 95,865 cases of the virus and 5,063 deaths. A total of 172,612 people across the state have been tested so far, meaning almost 45 percent of tests come back positive.

To try and quell the spread of the virus Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday that New Jersey, Connecticut and New York are working together on a contact tracing program tracking where the virus has physically been confirmed. Murphy says knowing points of contact will help people avoid those locations and reduce the number of transmissions.

One major area of concern is nursing homes: Tuesday Somerset County officials confirmed that half of the deaths county-wide could be linked back to nursing homes. 22 nursing care facilities in the county have had at least one patient who has died in connection with the coronavirus, and 28 facilities have had 2 or more confirmed cases of the virus. Age is a major risk factor for the coronavirus, so outbreaks in nursing homes or assisted living facilities are especially dangerous.

There is some hope on the horizon: a new study says New Jersey may be ready to relax some social distancing measures as early as May 4, provided everything goes well. The study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that if the state remains strict and effectively enforces social distancing, then the curve could be sufficiently flatted to lift some of the provisions in New Jersey's stay-at-home order.

Read more: Here's When NJ May Be Ready To Relax Social Distancing: Study

Here's a breakdown of where the confirmed coronavirus cases are according to the county:

• Bedminster township: 29 cases (4 deaths)
• Bernards Township: 160 cases (14 deaths)
• Bernardsville Borough: 43 cases (1 death)
• Bound Brook Borogugh: 150 cases (7 deaths)
• Branchburg Township: 54 cases (2 deaths)
• Bridgewater Township: 279 cases (35 deaths)
• Far Hills Borough: 2 cases
• Franklin Township: 715 cases (54 deaths)
• Green Brook Township: 86 cases (14 deaths)
• Hillsborough Township: 163 cases (10 deaths)
• Manville Borough: 84 cases (2 deaths)
• Millstone Borough: 2 cases
• Montgomery Township: 62 cases (1 death)
• North Plainfield Borough: 199 cases (9 deaths)
• Peapack-Gladstone Borough: 27 cases (1 death)
• Raritan Borough: 56 cases (4 deaths)
• Rocky Hills Borough: 5 cases
• Somerville borough: 75 cases (5 deaths)
• South Bound Brook Borough: 41 cases (1 death)
• Warren Township: 88 cases (8 deaths)
• Watchung Borough: 64 cases (6 deaths)

Readers may notice that the total above accounts for less deaths and confirmed cases than the state is reporting for Somerset County. There has been some ongoing discrepancy between state and county reports. The County is self-reporting a total of 2,384 cases and 178 deaths.