Ocean County's COVID-19 Cases: See Town-By-Town Updates

OCEAN COUNTY, NJ — Ocean County's coronavirus case rate has increased more slowly last week in the days leading up to Easter, after a few weeks of a spike in cases (see town-by-town totals below).

Ocean County recorded 61,572 cases of the coronavirus through Friday, according to the Ocean County Health Department. That is an increase of 1,355 cases, or 2.25 percent, from April 2, when 60,217 cases were reported.

Variants of the virus that spread more quickly have played some part in the increase in cases; Gov. Phil Murphy has said they could contribute to delays in further reopenings.

The New Jersey Department of Health's most recent COVID-19 Activity Level Report, issued Thursday for the week ending April 3, shows the entire state is back in the orange "high risk" zone, with a rate of 10 to 25 cases per 100,000 people.

Ocean County is in New Jersey's Central East region, which has the third-highest case rate in the state at 40.06. That number is down from the 42.01 of the previous week.

The other metrics reported in the COVID-19 Activity Level Index have risen. The percentage of COVID-like illnesses is at 7.48, up from 6.80 for the week ending March 27, and the percent positivity is at 10.61, up from 10.55 the previous week.

The state CALI report classifies the state as orange. The federal report has had Ocean County (and all of New Jersey) in the red, which signifies substantial community transmission. The transmission rate dipped below 1.0 — the level that means anyone with the coronavirus is likely spreading it to more than one person. The transmission rate was 0.98 as of Saturday, according to the state health department.

The cumulative town-by-town totals as of April 9 are below. The number in parentheses shows the number of cases from the week before.

Ocean County has had 1,878 residents who have died of complications from the coronavirus. There have been no deaths in those 18 and under; there were 35 people age 19 to 44; 242 age 45 to 64; 340 age 65 to 74; 580 age 75 to 84, and 681 people who were 85 or older have died, according to the county health department. The youngest person from Ocean County who died was 20 years old, and the oldest was 103.

The health department's data does not include a breakdown of how many people who died had underlying conditions other than to say that heart disease was a significant contributing factor.
Here are the town-by-town numbers. If the town shows a decrease this week, it reflects a correction based on the person's actual address as opposed to the mailing address.

• Barnegat Light 34 (33)
• Barnegat Township 1,878 (1,838)
• Bay Head 78 (74)
• Beach Haven 66 (62)
• Beachwood 1,048 (1,019)
• Berkeley Township 3,952 (3,869)
• Brick Township 8,346 (8,148)
• Eagleswood Township 144 (141)
• Harvey Cedars 16 (17)
• Island Heights 121 (123)
• Jackson Township 5,707 (5,525)
• Lacey Township 2,580 (2,468)
• Lakehurst 293 (286)
• Lakewood Township 13,438 (13,371)
• Lavallette 160 (162)
• Little Egg Harbor Township 1,604 (1,521)
• Long Beach Township 175 (176)
• Manchester Township 3,975 (3,885)
• Mantoloking 18 (18)
• Ocean Gate 161 (158)
• Ocean Township (Waretown) 589 (578)
• Pine Beach 168 (164)
• Plumsted Township 608 (575)
• Point Pleasant Beach 420 (423)
• Point Pleasant 2,246 (2,179)
• Seaside Heights 260 (240)
• Seaside Park 102 (102)
• Ship Bottom 112 (95)
• South Toms River 334 (341)
• Stafford Township 2,334 (2,255)
• Surf City 56 (61)
• Toms River 10,156 (9,898)
• Tuckerton 237 (230)

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