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

BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ — Burlington County Health Director Herb Conaway is calling for renewed vigilance concerning mask wearing and social distancing as Burlington County sees an uptick in new coronavirus cases.

The county is averaging 113 new cases a day. On Friday, it reported a one-year total of 33,669 cases, an increase of 789 cases over the previous 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, Burlington 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.

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.

“We’ve been battling this pandemic for over a year now, so it’s easy to understand why people may be experiencing COVID-19 fatigue, but we must remember that the virus is still very active in our state and in our county, and we cannot let down our guard,” Conaway said. “We’re at a critical time. Even though thousands of our residents are now fully vaccinated and thousands more are getting their COVID-19 shots every day, the presence COVID-19 variants and lax attention to proven infection control practices threaten to reverse the progress we’ve made since the winter spike.”

Conaway encouraged residents to take a coronavirus test if they show symptoms, or if they have come into contact with someone who has tested positive. He also urged residents to get vaccinated when they become eligible.

Testing for the coronavirus takes place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Health Department’s testing site at Rowan College at Burlington County’s Student Success Center off Route 38 in Mount Laurel. Testing is from 8 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays and from noon to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Residents eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine can register for an appointment at the Burlington County Vaccine Mega-Site in Moorestown at www.virtua.org/vaccine.

As of March 19, 195,972 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered to Burlington County residents, amounting to about 35 percent of the county’s population over the age 16, according to the health department.

“In Burlington County we’re making steady progress toward our goal of getting 70 percent of our adults vaccinated before summer. This is an encouraging development that offers us hope of an eventual end to the pandemic, but we are not there yet,” Conaway said. “Everyone must continue to wear masks in public, including those who have received the vaccine, and everyone must continue to follow social-distancing rules and quarantine guidelines. Now is the time for renewed vigilance, not indifference of carelessness. If everyone continues to do their part, we can stop this recent uptick from growing into a more serious outbreak and help bring an end to this crisis once.”

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

• BASS RIVER TWP: Total 58, Deaths 2
• BEVERLY CITY: Total 156, Deaths 4
• BORDENTOWN CITY: Total 225, Deaths 8
• BORDENTOWN TWP: Total 719, Deaths 10
• BURLINGTON CITY: Total 687, Deaths 8
• BURLINGTON TWP: Total 2,069, Deaths 101
• CHESTERFIELD TWP: Total 450, Deaths 1
• CINNAMINSON TWP: Total 1,279, Deaths 38
• DELANCO TWP: Total 285, Deaths 8
• DELRAN TWP: Total 1,582, Deaths 6
• EASTAMPTON TWP: Total 429, Deaths 4
• EDGEWATER PARK TWP: Total 746, Deaths 6
• EVESHAM TWP: Total 2,809, Deaths 80
• FIELDSBORO BORO: Total 32, Deaths 1
• FLORENCE TWP: Total 875, Deaths 12
• HAINESPORT TWP: Total 382, Deaths 3
• LUMBERTON TWP: Total 834, Deaths 21
• MANSFIELD TWP: Total 551, Deaths 11
• MAPLE SHADE TWP: Total 1,556, Deaths 46
• MEDFORD LAKES BORO: Total 250, Deaths 2
• MEDFORD TWP: Total 1,325, Deaths 19
• MOORESTOWN TWP: Total 1,315, Deaths 78
• MOUNT HOLLY TWP: Total 616, Deaths 8
• MOUNT LAUREL TWP: Total 2,499, Deaths 72
• NEW HANOVER TWP: Total 159, Deaths 1
• NORTH HANOVER TWP: Total 296, Deaths 4
• PALMYRA BORO: Total 452, Deaths 6
• PEMBERTON BORO: Total 76, Deaths 1
• PEMBERTON TWP: Total 1,634, Deaths 33
• RIVERSIDE TWP: Total 720, Deaths 7
• RIVERTON BORO: Total 197, Deaths 18
• SHAMONG TWP: Total 420, Deaths 4
• SOUTHAMPTON TWP: Total 510, Deaths 23
• SPRINGFIELD TWP: Total 185, Deaths 3
• TABERNACLE TWP: Total 392, Deaths 8
• WASHINGTON TWP: Total 37, Deaths 1
• WESTAMPTON TWP: Total 670, Deaths 7
• WILLINGBORO TWP: Total 2,689, Deaths 61
• WOODLAND TWP: Total 366, Deaths 9
• WRIGHTSTOWN BORO: Total 32, Deaths 2
• OTHER: Total 2,013, Deaths 2
• TBD: Total 901, Deaths 0
• TOTAL: 33,478 cases, 739 confirmed deaths, 76 probable deaths