Chatham COVID Updates: Schools Reopening With Caution

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

Cases and Vaccinations

Officials reported 18 new cases in Chatham Borough from March 19-24, according to the latest local tally. The borough has tallied 220 infections in 2021 and 465 cases since the pandemic began. Ten borough residents have died from the virus.

The Morris County Division of Public Health reported 18 new cases in Chatham Township from March 23 to Wednesday, bringing the local tally to 499 cases since the onset of the pandemic. County officials don't release death tolls by municipality, but the Chatham's honored 37 township residents lost to the virus at a Feb. 21 memorial service.

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

• 37,944 total confirmed cases (since the pandemic began)
• 6,941 total probable cases
• 932 confirmed deaths
• 243 probable deaths

State officials have logged 310,552 vaccine doses administered in Morris County as of Wednesday afternoon — an increase of about 39,000 since Chatham Patch's last update March 24.

New Jersey's health department has reported 1,570,914 people fully vaccinated. The Garden State must fully inoculate about 2.5 million more people by mid-June to meet its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the state's adults in six months.

Recent Updates

• The School District of the Chathams appears close to returning to in-person schooling five days a week. Officials set a tentative timeline for the following grades to return to school every day, but they're proceeding with caution and looking at factors such as transmission rates. MORE.
• Although New Jersey is experiencing increases in daily new cases, infections recently went down in Morris County. MORE.
• Here's an updated list of vaccine sites in the Chatham area, with tips on securing an appointment.

Here's what else you should know:

• New Department of Health models project that the number of new coronavirus cases in New Jersey will hover around 5,000 for most of April as the number of vaccinations continue to increase across the Garden State. In the worst case scenario, though, the state could be looking at 8,000 new cases daily in the spring, Gov. Phil Murphy said during a news conference on Wednesday. MORE.
• The Garden State added another tool in the box to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is a beta version of an Appointment Finder is live and ready to use, according to Murphy. MORE.
• The "largest mass COVID-19 vaccination site" in the state, located on the campus of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), launched Wednesday. The site has the capacity to give up to 6,000 doses per day, seven days per week. MORE.

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