Chatham COVID-19 Update: Active Cases Up In Twp., Report On 2020

CHATHAM, NJ — Here are the latest coronavirus updates around Chatham.

Cases and Vaccinations

Mayor Tracy Ness reported 40 active cases Monday in Chatham Township — the town's highest total since the beginning of the pandemic. The Morris County Division of Public Health reported 29 new cases in the township from March 30 to Thursday. Officials have identified 524 Chatham Township cases since the start of the pandemic.

Chatham Borough reported 19 new cases in its latest tally from March 26-31. The borough has identified 239 cases in 2021 and 484 since the pandemic began.

The School District of the Chathams reported 19 cases since March 20, according to its COVID-19 dashboard.

The New Jersey Department of Health reported the following Morris County totals as of Friday morning:

• 39,470 total confirmed cases (since the onset of the pandemic)
• 7,224 total probable cases
• 945 confirmed COVID-19 deaths
• 241 probable COVID-19 deaths

State officials have tallied 354,878 vaccine doses administered in Morris County — an increase of about 44,000 since Chatham Patch's last update March 31.

The state has counted 5 million doses administered, including nearly 2 million people fully vaccinated. The state must fully inoculate 4.7 million people by the end of June for New Jersey to meet its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of adults in six months.

Recent Updates

• While no town in New Jersey has truly made out well during the coronavirus pandemic, the Chatham's were among the most successful towns in keeping their infection rates low. In fact, Chatham Borough had the lowest infection rate in Morris County and one of the 50th lowest in the Garden State in 2020, according to new research. MORE.
• The need for local blood donations remains high as the pandemic has challenged the nation's blood supply. Here's how to help in the Chatham area. MORE.

Here's what else you should know:

• Governor Phil Murphy said that the majority of students will be taking
  their standardized tests in the fall in the Garden State, thanks to a waiver granted to them by the Biden Administration. The fall tests will be a slimmer version of the annual New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, and they used in 2020 with about 90,000 students to gauge learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Murphy noted that the waiver is just for this year. MORE.
• Clean Ocean Action, which just published the results of their 2020 Beach Sweep, said volunteers picked up 1,113 pieces of PPE littering New Jersey beaches. MORE.
• New Jersey is among five states that are behind nearly half of the country's new COVID-19 infections over the most recent seven-day period, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. MORE.

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