Westfield Gives Weekly Coronavirus Case Update

WESTFIELD, NJ — Mayor Shelley Brindle said in her weekly coronavirus update on Friday that New Jersey ranks second in the nation in per capita confirmed cases (see statewide hospitalization, death, and variant statistics below). There's good news, though: In Union County, 133,287 individuals, or 24 percent of the population, have received one dose of the vaccine, Brindle said, and 69,208 (12 percent) are fully vaccinated.

There were 73 cases in Westfield in the eight days from April 1 through last Thursday, with the most highly impacted age group the 10-19 group, she said. This represents 24.6 percent of newly reported cases.

One person who tested positive, an 87-year-old woman, was hospitalized.

The ages of the cases, from 5 months old to 87, broke down like this:

▪ Age 9 and under: 5 cases
▪ Age 10-19: 18 cases
▪ Age 20-29: 10 cases
▪ Age 30-39: 9 cases
▪ Age 40-49: 7 cases
▪ Age 50-59: 16 cases
▪ Age 60-69: 3 cases
▪ Age 70-79: 3 cases
▪ Age 80-89: 2 cases
▪ Age 90 and above: no cases

Contract tracing found that:

▪ 22 couldn't identify where they were exposed
▪ 15 remain under investigation
▪ 12 were unable to be reached
▪ 8 had a positive household contact
▪ 7 had a known exposure
▪ 2 were associated with long-term care/group home facilities
▪ 2 were diagnosed previously but reported this week
▪ 1 was exposed at work
▪ 1 was associated with youth sports
▪ 1 was hospitalized (an 87 year-old female)
▪ 1 was associated with travel
▪ 1 refused to be interviewed

Brindle said that according to Regional Health Officer Megan Avallone, New Jersey's seven-day average for new confirmed cases is down 18 percent from a week ago but up 20 percent from a month ago, and the statewide rate of transmission is now 1.01. See below for current state hospitalization, death, and variant numbers.

To find out where to get a coronavirus vaccine in Union County, and tips to find one, click here.

Avallone and staff investigated 8,000 cases

In her prior update on Tuesday, Brindle had noted the hard work of Avallone and the other health officials and workers over the past year, including investigating more than 8,000 covid cases in eight towns, a quarter of those in Westfield.

"This week is National Public Health Week," she wrote, "and I’d like to take a moment to recognize the dedicated employees of the Westfield Regional Health Department, who have worked tirelessly over the past year in unprecedented circumstances to provide timely and critical information to the public during the pandemic. Led by Regional Health Officer Megan Avallone, the team has investigated over 8,000 cases of COVID-19 in the eight communities they serve — including more than 2,000 in Westfield."

"Megan was chosen to be interviewed for the New Jersey Oral History Museum about the local public health response to the pandemic," Brindle said. "It’s only fitting that her vast contributions will be part of a permanent record of this truly incredible time for generations to come. Thank you, Megan, and all of your incredibly dedicated team members."

State hospitalization, variant numbers

As the vaccination rollout continues in New Jersey, coronavirus cases are not expected to decline just yet.

In New Jersey, on Friday, there were 43 new confirmed deaths since the day before. The state has seen a total of 22,253 total confirmed deaths from the virus.

As of the most recent hospitalization count on Wednesday, 2,375 people were currently hospitalized with the virus, 455 of those in critical care. There are 827 reports of CDC variants of concern.

The state's daily death toll has never declined to Sept. 8, when only 2 deaths were reported in one day. New Jersey's peak daily death toll on April 30, 2020 was 460 fatalities reported in one day. The numbers then steadily dropped until September, when they began rising again.

As of Monday, across the country, approximately 562,000 Americans had died of the virus. (You can see which states had the highest death toll in the past week on this CDC map.)

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