In total, 10,104 local residents have tested positive for the virus, and 568 have died from COVID-related complications.
By Matt Skoufalos | September 14, 2020
NJDOH COVID-19 Dashboard – 9-14-20. Credit: NJDOH.
Since Tuesday, another 91 Camden County residents have been sickened by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), according to reports from the Camden County government.
That brings the local impact of the pandemic to 568 related deaths and 10,104 infected people.
In a statement Friday, Camden County Freeholder-Director Lou Cappelli noted that the average age of a newly infected resident is “between 20 and 30 years old.”
These local numbers are indicative of a statewide trend among younger people accounting for a greater percentage of COVID-positive New Jerseyans.
New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli reported Friday that residents aged 14 to 24 now account for 10 percent of all positive tests, highest among any age bracket.
Six percent of those aged 19 to 24 are COVID-19-positive—most of any age group in the state—and those aged 14 to 18 are right behind them, at 4 percent.
In response to this shift, Cappelli announced the launch of Protect Your Circle, a countywide public health campaign focused on alerting teens and young adults to the implications of the pandemic.
“The siren song of the shore, large parties, just a general malaise, or lackadaisical attitude has endured because people think this is just a cold and they won’t be impacted by it,” Cappelli said in a briefing last week.
“Just because your illness is mild does not mean that it cannot cause serious complications down the line, as other viruses have been known to do,” he said.
Camden County Freeholder-Director Louis Cappelli, COVID-19 briefing, 9-9-20. Credit: NJ Pen.
The Freeholder-Director also pointed out that recovery can be a long road, and that the long-term effects of contracting COVID-19 are still unknown.
“[There are] individuals in their 30s, after hospitalizations, that are sick for months,” he said.
“We have no idea whether having had this virus means that 10 years from now you’ll have an elevated risk of contracting a larger, debilitating disease.”
Cappelli urged residents to “wear a mask, stay home when possible, [and] wash your hands; if you’re sick, stay home no matter what.”
Throughout New Jersey, 196,634 people have been sickened by COVID-19, and 14,242 have perished from causes related to the virus. In addition to those lab-confirmed fatalities, the state also recognizes another 1,789 probable COVID-19-related deaths.
LTC cases and deaths
Long-term care (LTC) facilities account for almost half of all deaths in the state and one-fifth of those infected, and new cases are still being discovered there.
Of 10,104 reported local COVID-19 cases, 1,981 (20 percent) have originated in a Camden County LTC facility: 1,402 are residents and 579 are staff.
LTCs are believed to be associated with 57 percent, or 321 of the 568 total deaths in Camden County; 318 were residents and three were staff.
More than half the 56 LTCs in Camden County (40) have experienced at least one case of COVID-19.
New cases
According to the New Jersey Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard, on September 14, Camden County was eighth in the state in new COVID-19 cases, with 19.
The newest local cases since Tuesday (91) are:
- two Barrington women in their 20s
- a Bellmawr woman in her 30s
- two Berlin Borough women, one each in her 20s and 80s; and a man in his 20s
- a Berlin Township teenaged girl
- seven Camden City women, three in their 20s, two in their 40s, one each in her 30s and 50s, and a teenaged girl; and five men, two each in their 30s and 50s, one in his 20s, and two teenaged boys
- six Cherry Hill men, two in their 30s, one each in his 20s, 40s, 60s, and 70s, and four teenaged boys; and two women, one each in her 40s and 60s, and a teenaged girl
- two Clementon women, one each in her 20s and 50s; and two men, one each in his 20s and 60s
- a Collingswood teenaged girl, and woman in her 20s
- a Gloucester City woman in her 40s, and man in his 70s
- four Gloucester Township women, two in their 30s, one each in her 20s and 50s, and a teenaged girl; and two men, one each in his 40s and 50s, and a teenaged boy
- a Haddon Heights woman in her 20s
- a Haddonfield woman in her 20s
- two Lindenwold women, one each in her 30s and 40s; and a man in his 20s
- a Magnolia man in his 30s
- a Mount Ephraim teenaged girl
- a Pennsauken teenaged girl, a woman in her 30s, and a man in his 50s
- three Pine Hill women, one each in her 20s, 50s, and 60s; and two men, one each in his 30s and 50s
- a Runnemede man in his 20s
- two Somerdale men, one each in his 30s and 40s
- four Voorhees teenaged girls, and four women, one each in her 30s, 40s, 50s, and 90s; and four men, two each in their 20s and 60s, and a teenaged boy
- a Waterford teenaged girl, and man in his 20s
- three Winslow women, two in their 40s, one in her 50s, and a teenaged girl; and two men, one each in his 30s and 40s, and a young boy
The Camden County and New Jersey Health Department are working to facilitate trace investigations into all cases.
Read our ongoing round-up of COVID-19 coverage here.
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