Coronavirus in NJ: 8 new cases in Monmouth, 3 in Ocean

Monmouth County has eight new cases of the novel coronavirus and Ocean County has three, part of a statewide surge in the number of positive tests, state and county health officials said Tuesday.

The new cases in Ocean County include a woman from Jackson, a woman from Berkeley and a male from Toms River, the county Health Department said in a news release. The case in Jackson is the first in the township and both Toms River and Berkeley each have their second positive case.

The new cases brought the total in Ocean County to six as of Tuesday afternoon, according to county officials.

Monmouth County had 22 cases as of Tuesday, according to information provided by the state Health Department.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced 89 new cases over the past day, bringing New Jersey's total to 267. The number of presumptive positive cases statewide has more than doubled since Sunday. 

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Many of the new cases are clustered in northeastern New Jersey, Persichilli said.

COVID-19 cases have been accelerating in recent days as testing is ramped up and privately run labs take more of the testing load off state officials. Officials said the number of cases will continue to rise as testing is expanded.

As the number of cases has grown, state officials have stopped providing information about where individual patients are from or how they are suspected of contracting COVID-19.

Persichilli said about 55% of known cases in the state have required a patient to be hospitalized. Some patients have known exposure to a previously identified case, but some have no clear link to known cases, indicating "community spread" of the virus, she said.

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She said the state Department of Health has been preparing for a possible surge in coronavirus patients since January, before the virus spread worldwide. The department is talking to medical executives about potentially reopening two or three of eight acute care hospitals that have closed in recent years and converting now-closed wings of hospitals to handle patients infected with the virus if existing facilities are overwhelmed.

Officials hope extensive restrictions on public gatherings announced in recent days will blunt the impact of the virus so that hospitals are not inundated with infected patients.

Officials remain concerned about a potential shortage of personal protective equipment for health care workers and first responders. Persichilli said the state received only a small fraction of the equipment it had asked for to respond to the pandemic.

A drive-thru testing site, supplied by the federal government, is expected to open at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel in the coming days. Another site is planned for Bergen County.

Life in the state has essentially ground to a halt because of the pandemic with schools closed, bars and entertainment venues temporarily shuttered and a voluntary curfew in place from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. each day.

Murphy expanded that order to mandate that indoor malls and amusement parks close by 8 p.m. Tuesday. The measures are aimed at "social distancing" to limit how quickly the virus spreads in the state.

County buildings in both Monmouth and Ocean counties have now closed to the public except for essential business and a slew of municipal government offices have also closed their offices as a precaution.

LIVE UPDATES:Coronavirus in Monmouth and Ocean counties

Andrew Goudsward covers crime and breaking news. Contact him at agoudsward@gannettnj.com; 732-897-4555 or @AGoudsward on Twitter.