4 Test Positive For Coronavirus In Lakewood: County Health Office

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Four Lakewood residents have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the Ocean County Health Department announced Wednesday evening.

The cases were among 10 new positive test results, the health department said, and brought the number countywide to 16 positive cases of the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 427 positive tests for COVID-19 in New Jersey, and five people have died from it, according to the state health department. More than 50 percent of those positives are people who are hospitalized, officials said. The first case in New Jersey was identified on March 4.

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The announcement of the new cases came as private schools across Lakewood were closing Wednesday, following an order put in place Monday by Gov. Phil Murphy that closed all the schools — public, private, charter, and vocational — across the state until further notice.

Murphy also ordered a halt to all public gatherings of more than 50 people on Monday, and additionally has ordered the closure of all nonessential busineses, limiting restaurants and bars to takeout or delivery service only, and asking residents to avoid nonessential travel from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

On Tuesday night, Lakewood police broke up two weddings in the township; more than 50 people were present at each one.

The Lakewood Scoop reported that halls across the township agreed to shut down on Wednesday, and that township police would be cracking down on any gathering that exceeded the 50-person limit. The department said on Facebook that it was taking the limits on public gatherings very seriously.

There have been 16 positive tests for COVID-19 in Ocean County so far, according to the Ocean County Health Department. There are two in Toms River, two in Jackson, two in Berkeley Township, four in Lakewood, one in Surf City, one in Little Egg Harbor, one in Point Pleasant, and three in Manchester, where the county’s first case, a 72-year-old Manchester man, was identified on March 13.

COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

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