Board Updated on Operations During Shutdown

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CREST HAVEN – Cape May County freeholders continue to meet weekly via teleconference. At the April 21 session, an update was given on the COVID-19 crisis, which claimed 15 lives in the county to that date.
Health Officer Kevin Thomas reported that the county’s caseload was 221, up 49 cases from the prior week. He noted the death toll rose by six from the earlier week.
Thomas cited the drive-through test sites, including the county Health Department, which had 25 registered for its testing April 22. In the prior week, the department did 24 tests and 15 in the first week.
More Testing
Thomas also cited three urgent care centers operated by Cape Regional Medical Center that are doing COVID-19 tests. “They are doing anywhere between 100 and 120 people per day,” he said. “From what I see, there is a slight downtick.” He cited prior weeks when about 25 a day were being shown with the virus. “There is a slight downturn.”
While there is pressure from some segments of the business community to have a date confirmed by freeholders, to resume rentals for summer, the board will await and follow the governor’s order to reopen.
Thomas added, “It’s easy to gauge what we have here in a county based on our population, but when you get like another 100,000 to 200,000 people coming in, I think what we have on paper all goes out the window to some extent.”
Further, he said the state health officials would be inspecting each of the state’s 425 nursing homes and long-term facilities for compliance with regulations to isolate and quarantine those who have the virus. He added that in those facilities, a total of 1,779 deaths occurred because of complications associated with the disease.
Await Governor’s Order
Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton cited Gov. Phil Murphy’s intention to keep schools closed until at least May 15, and make another decision then on whether to reopen.
Safety Apparel Issued
Martin Pagliughi, coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management, said, as of April 22, the office had distributed to local agencies 16,295 masks, 32,000 protective masks, 12,000 pairs of gloves, 200 each of face shields and gowns. He noted each of the latter were in critical demand.
Administrator Elizabeth Bozzelli reported that employees of the County Library, which has a 3-D printer, are producing plastic forms for face shields.
Zoo employees continue to tend the animals while remaining at a safe distance from each other.
Zoo Gets Donation
She noted that Sysco had donated 17,000 pounds of fresh vegetables to the zoo for the animals earlier in the month.
Discussions are ongoing with department heads as to how they will return their employees to work once the governor lifts the state of emergency order that has shuddered most government offices.