Around Manchester: Ridgeway School Returns To Hybrid Instruction

MANCHESTER, NJ — Students at Ridgeway Elementary School are scheduled to return to hybrid instruction starting Monday, after spending the last two weeks on remote instruction due to cases of the coronavirus.

As Ridgeway students return, Manchester Schools Superintendent David Trethaway said there were three cases reported of students and staff of other schools, but none of the three had been in school since Nov. 20, meaning no one at the schools had been exposed.

Another staff member who tested positive Dec. 1 had not been in the schools and that person's close contacts were notified, Trethaway said.

The district's Parent Teacher Association is holding then annual "Kids Holiday Shoppes" online due to the pandemic. More information and links to order, by school, are online here.

Kevin's Kids

The annual Kevin's Kids Christmas gift drive continues through Friday, Dec. 11. If you don't know its history, read up on it: Manchester's Kevin's Kids Still Bringing Holiday Joy

Coronavirus update

The number of coronavirus cases in Manchester continues to climb along with the numbers in Ocean County and statewide. All 21 New Jersey counties are in the orange "high risk" category due to the rates of transmission of the virus.

As of Sunday, Ocean County had 23,883 people who have had positive PCR tests, up 2,112 from the 20,073 on Nov. 29. Manchester has 184 new positive cases in that time, with 1,560, up from 1,376 on Nov. 29, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

The number of deaths have begun to increase as well. On Nov. 4, there had been 1,007 deaths from the coronavirus in Ocean County, and 162 in Manchester. As of Sunday, there have been 1,088 deaths countywide, and 184 in Manchester, according to the county health department.

Statewide, New Jersey now has more than 368,000 cases since March, including 6,046 new ones on Sunday, according to the state Department of Health COVID-19 website. As of Sunday, 3,241 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus, with 622 in intensive care and 396 patients on ventilators, according to the state COVID-19 website. There are 991 hospitalized in the Central region of the state, which includes Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, Mercer, Somerset and Hunterdon counties.

Around town

The Manchester Township Planning Board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Monday. Information on how to access the Zoom meeting is available on the township website here. The agenda includes a proposed addition to the clubhouse at Leisure Knoll.

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