Westfield Mayor Announces One More Coronavirus Fatality

WESTFIELD, NJ — Even as the coronavirus vaccine rollout continues in New Jersey, Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle announced the death of another resident of the township.

"I must report another fatality," Brindle wrote in her weekly update on Friday, "an 81-year-old male, bringing Westfield’s total number of COVID deaths to 53."

The previous Friday, Brindle had reported the death of another resident in his 80s.

As of Sunday night, 498,800 Americans had died of the virus. A month ago the number was 400,000.

Case numbers and trends

Brindle said the Department of Health reported 59 new positive cases among Westfield residents from Feb. 12-18. This is down from 68 cases reported during the previous Friday's update.

Brindle said, "Regional Health Officer Megan Avallone reports that COVID activity is declining statewide, and Westfield is categorized in the moderate activity level. The most highly impacted age group here remains between 10 and 19 once again, representing 24 percent of the newly reported cases."

Of the 59 cases reported Feb. 12-18, Brindle said:

• 15 didn't know where they were exposed
• 13 were unable to be reached
• 11 had a positive household contact
• 8 remain under investigation
• 5 had a known exposure
• 3 were hospitalized (ages 65, 67, and 72)
• 2 refused to be interviewed
• 1 was associated with work

The ages of the week’s cases ranged from 1 to 85:

• Age 9 and under: 6 cases
• Age 10-19: 14
• Age 20-29: 7
• Age 30-39: 7
• Age 40-49: 5
• Age 50-59: 7
• Age 60-69: 7
• Age 70-79: 3
• Age 80-89: 2
• Age unconfirmed: 1

Brindle said that on Friday, New Jersey’s COVID-related hospitalizations fell for the 16th straight day — down to their lowest level since Nov. 15.

However, there were still 2,202 people hospitalized with the virus statewide on Friday. New Jersey reported a total death toll of 20,495, with 64 new deaths in the last 24 hours. Of those hospitalized, 443 are in ICU or critical care, and 300 on ventilators.

Vaccine update

Brindle gave an update about vaccines statewide and in Union County:

• In the past week, New Jersey averaged 49,400 vaccinations a day, representing an increase of 5 percent from the previous week.
• The state has fully vaccinated 4.9 percent of the population, and 12.4 percent of our population has received one dose.
• In Union County, 9.6 percent of the population has received their first dose of vaccine and 3.9 percent has received their second dose.

She said, "Please continue to take all COVID-related precautions so we can collectively drive case numbers down even further as more of the population is vaccinated each day."

Union County coronavirus testing and vaccine info

The latest Patch list of vaccination sites in Union County is here.

The county said they were changing their hours at their main testing site this week. Read more here.

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222

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