Around Brick: Lidl Announces Grand Opening

BRICK, NJ — It's been a long wait, but Brick Township will have a new grocery store at last when Lidl holds its grand opening on Wednesday.

The store, which is opening in the former Cost Cutters site in the Riverwalk shopping center, 2770 Hooper Ave., was anticipated to open earlier in the year but the coronavirus pandemic led to delays.

There is a ribbon-cutting set for 7:40 a.m. Wednesday, and the store will open at 8 a.m. Read more:New Lidl Location To Coming To Brick, Grand Opening Wednesday

Coronavirus update

The number of coronavirus cases in Brick Township continues to climb along with the numbers in Ocean County and statewide. All 21 New Jersey counties are in the orange "high risk" category due to the rates of transmission of the virus.

As of Sunday, Ocean County had 23,883 people who have had positive PCR tests, up 2,112 from the 20,073 on Nov. 29. Brick Township has 302 new positive cases in that time, with 2,774, up from 2,472 on Nov. 29, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

The number of deaths have begun to increase as well. On Nov. 4, there had been 1,007 deaths from the coronavirus in Ocean County, and 149 in Brick. As of Sunday, there have been 1,088 deaths countywide, and 163 in Brick, according to the county health department.

Statewide, New Jersey now has more than 368,000 cases since March, including 6,046 new ones on Sunday, according to the state Department of Health COVID-19 website. As of Sunday, 3,241 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus, with 622 in intensive care and 396 patients on ventilators, according to the state COVID-19 website. There are 991 hospitalized in the Central region of the state, which includes Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, Mercer, Somerset and Hunterdon counties.

The state has not provided information on how many people have recovered as there is no tracking of cases based solely on positive tests, or of people who are discharged from the hospital.

In the schools

Brick Township High School students have another week of remote instruction as they complete their quarantine due to a rise in cases associated with the high school.

The school district was honored for its finance curriculum at the two high schools recently. Read more: Brick High Schools Named Gold Standard For Finance Curriculum

The Brick Township Board of Education election was ordered to a recount, with incumbent Jessica Clayton leading challenger Michael Blandina by two votes. Read more: Recount Ordered In Brick Board Of Education Election

Coming up

The Brick Township Recreation Department is holding its annual Home Decorating Contest. Register online at brickrec.twp.brick.nj.us or by calling 732-262-1044. Then send your best photos (photos only; no video) by Dec. 11 to jnapoli@twp.brick.nj.us. We'll post the pictures and the home with the most votes by Dec. 22 will win the bragging rights.

Also this week, the Brick Township Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Instructions to connect to the Zoom meeting are in the agenda.

The Planning Board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday. There are three small applications on the agenda; one would create apartments above office space at a property on Old Silverton Road; a second proposes a 4,800-square-foot addition to a warehouse. The agenda has information on the Zoom meeting.

Also:

Brick Resident Suffers Minor Injury In House Fire

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