The Wrap’ is a feature from the Herald editorial team that offers our take on the news of the week. Get ‘The Wrap’ in your inbox every Monday by signing up at https://bit.ly/HeraldWrap. Learn more about J. Byrne Insurance.
Dec. 28-Jan. 3
Covid Cases Mount
December ended on a grim note, with 33 county resident Covid fatalities, making it Cape May County’s deadliest month of the pandemic. This week, eight county residents succumbed to the virus, four of them in the first three days of January. In total, 142 residents lost battles with Covid over the last 10 months.
One of the deaths this week was a resident of the county’s Crest Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. It was the first Covid-associated fatality at the facility.
For the week, there were 359 new cases reported, and 308 previous cases were removed from quarantine. The number of active cases among county residents stands at 509. Since the first county case, in March 2020, 4,469 resident cases were reported by county health officials. Of those, 3,818, or 85%, are off quarantine.
The state established a website to provide information and tracking data on Covid vaccinations. Soon, the site will allow individuals to preregister for the vaccine. The goal remains to have 70% of the state’s adult population vaccinated within six months.
The Wilmington Veterans Affairs Medical Center will expand vaccinations to outpatient clinics, including the new clinic, in Rio Grande.
The state announced that Covid childcare assistance programs will be extended through January.
Health officials continue to urge residents and visitors to observe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and to be especially careful in indoor situations, with those outside one’s immediate bubble.
Two out of every three confirmed cases reported since March occurred since the last week of October, when the weather drove people indoors.
Municipal Actions
The new municipal year is beginning for most towns in the county. That means reorganization meetings.
At this time, newly elected officials take their oaths of office, individuals in professional positions within the municipality or under contract to it are reconfirmed or replaced, appointments are made to committees and commissions and meeting times are set for the coming year.
Two county towns (Cape May and West Wildwood) held reorganization meetings this week. Those meetings installed new officials on the governing bodies where incumbents, in both towns, lost bids for reelection.
In advance of its reorganization meeting scheduled Jan. 7, Middle Township issued a release reflecting on the past year, and looking ahead to 2021.
In West Wildwood, outgoing commissioners approved a new police contract.
In Avalon, a man was found dead on the beach. The 21-year-old Pennsylvania man was dead for several hours before being noticed and reported.
The Avalon Planning Board will hear testimony and consider an application for a 310-seat, two-story restaurant and bar proposed for the Boardwalk, at 29th Street, adjacent to the municipal parking lot and the newly completed Surf Side Park.
A North Wildwood bar, accused of violating social distancing and face-covering requirements, may be facing a suspension of its liquor license for up to 66 days.
North Wildwood was also the scene of a house fire caused by the owner setting off fireworks.
The Board of Chosen Freeholders is no more. It is a Board of County Commissioners. A mandated change in the name of the county governing body took effect Jan. 1.
County officials invited the public to participate in a meeting to review and comment on new updates to the hazard mitigation plan.
The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission announced a delay in implementing plans for licenses for individuals who do not have legal immigration status.
Lower Township police are investigating several reports of items taken from unsecured vehicles, in North Cape May. Meanwhile, in Wildwood, a man attempted to steal a car that the owner left running to warm it up. An alert neighbor foiled the attempt.
And…
State Police were called to a bank robbery, in Dennisville. A man, identified as white, entered a Sturdy Savings Bank, on Route 47, and handed a teller a note, asking for an undisclosed amount of money, State Police said.
A Del Haven resident, who served 53 years as music director at Cape Island Baptist Church, advised people to turn to music as a counterbalance to the harsh realities of the past year.
Meanwhile, a look back at 2020, in Cape May County, showed that many things other than the pandemic absorbed attention and efforts in that fateful year.
