Camden County Once Again 'High Risk' For COVID: Report

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — For the ninth consecutive day, Camden County saw more than 100 new cases of the coronavirus, as there were 158 new cases announced on Friday.

This brings the total number of coronavirus cases the county has seen since the beginning of the pandemic to 42,360, with 1,115 coronavirus-related deaths. This is an increase of 983 cases since last week.

The continued increase in new cases means the county is once again labeled “high risk.” According to the latest "COVID-19 Activity Level Report," which is issued weekly, Camden County is in the “orange zone,” after being in the yellow zone for several weeks.

If the county is in the "orange" zone, it means it has a rate of 10 to 25 cases per 100,000 people. “Yellow” means the county has a rate 1 to 10 cases per 100,000 people.

“This is the ninth consecutive day of more than 100 new cases in Camden County, and our daily average over the last week has increased to 140,” Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said. “Although there is a lot of good news surrounding our vaccination efforts, it is extremely important that our residents do not take this to mean that our fight with COVID-19 is over. This virus remains extremely active, especially with the appearance of new variants that help it to spread more easily. Until we see widespread inoculation throughout our community, we have to keep our focus on stopping the spread of this disease.”

If the overall activity is at a "orange" level, state officials say, school districts in those counties would have to take more serious steps — such as quarantining or even shutting down schools — if a child shows the symptoms of COVID-19.

"When it is high risk, there are some recommendations that we make together with local school boards," said Edward Lifshitz, medical director for the state Department of Health.

The backslide comes despite the county’s recent vaccination efforts. As of Friday, 232,131 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Camden County. There are 152,674 people with at least one vaccine dose, and 85,782 people who are fully vaccinated.

Camden County officials provided the following breakdown of cases by town:

• Audubon 577
• Audubon Park 51
• Barrington 424
• Bellmawr 942
• Berlin Boro 536
• Berlin Twp. 350
• Brooklawn 150
• Camden 8,741
• Cherry Hill 5,049
• Chesilhurst 141
• Clementon 387
• Collingswood 826
• Gibbsboro 133
• Gloucester City 883
• Gloucester Twp. 5,093
• Haddon Heights 386
• Haddon Twp. 823
• Haddonfield 533
• Hi-Nella 54
• Laurel Springs 138
• Lawnside 302
• Lindenwold 1,844
• Magnolia 270
• Merchantville 315
• Mount Ephraim 249
• Oaklyn 228
• Pennsauken 3,973
• Pine Hill 827
• Pine Valley 0
• Runnemede 609
• Somerdale 404
• Stratford 490
• Tavistock 0
• Voorhees Twp. 2,259
• Waterford Twp. 711
• Winslow Twp. 3,177
• Woodlynne 310
• Unknown: 17