Cinnaminson Among Top 40 NJ Towns In COVID Spikes, Report Says

CINNAMINSON, NJ — Cinnaminson was among the top 40 towns in the state to see an increase in coronavirus cases during the second wave of the pandemic, according to numbers released in a new Rutgers-Camden report.

The second wave of the pandemic took place from June 30 through Dec. 13, 2020. June is when the summer reopenings ramped up.

During that time, Cinnaminson’s infection rate was 4,268.48 per 100,000 people. It was 156th among the 561 municipalities that reported numbers statewide.

However, the increase was 1,430.43 percent, the 38th highest increase in the state. Upper Pittsgrove Township in Salem County saw the highest increase at 6,750 percent, while Rockleigh Borough in Bergen County had the highest infection rate at 31,720.43.

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The new report issued this week by the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers University–Camden unmasks the broad, regional impact of COVID-19 upon New Jersey municipalities during two waves in 2020. Read more here: Report Shows Town-By-Town NJ COVID Impact, Infection Rates Ranked

Rather than focus on county-level COVID case data, the Rutgers University–Camden research institute explores how municipalities truly fared during the first year of the pandemic.

For example, Cinnaminson’s infection rate was lower than nearby Delran, which saw 5,225.18 cases per 100,000 people. The township had a higher infection rate than Riverton, which had 3,920.12 per 100,000.

But Cinnaminson had a higher increase than Delran’s, which was 49th in the state at 1,257.81 percent. Riverton had the highest spike of the three towns, jumping by 2,020 percent, the 19th highest leap in the state.

The new research report from Rutgers University–Camden offers a visualization of variations in COVID-19 rates across New Jersey municipalities and illustrates the reality that nearby municipalities can have COVID infection rates that are very different from each and from average rates within their counties.

"This data offers insight for those planning equitable aid allocations across the state and within counties," said Sarah Allred, a professor of psychology and faculty director of the Rand Institute, both at Rutgers University–Camden.

Rutgers-Camden acknowledged that getting the town-by-town information was difficult. Indeed, Rutgers-Camden investigated every county to get the information, and if the county didn't have data, the institution researched every town and obtained the numbers.

According to the report, Cinnaminson had 704 cases during the pandemic’s second wave. As of April 5, there have been 1,341 cases of the coronavirus and 38 deaths in Cinnaminson since the beginning of the pandemic.

With reporting by Tom Davis, Patch Staff