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

GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NJ — New data has been released that shows the coronavirus continues to have an impact on Gloucester County.

Gloucester County reported a one-year total of 22,327 cases on Friday, an increase of 712 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, Gloucester 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.

"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.