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Jan. 17-23:
Covid
Numbers
Cape May County is seeing a downturn in the omicron-driven surge that began in December 2021. This week, the numbers have improved across all but one metric.
New cases of Covid infection dropped from 1,489 last week to 821 in the week just ended. Active community cases declined from 2,329 to 1,499, a drop of 55%. State numbers indicate that hospitalizations are down by one-third compared to two weeks ago. The hospital burden remained high through last week.
One metric lags behind the downturn in cases. Covid-related deaths in the county continued to occur, with eight newly reported fatalities in the county’s Jan. 21 report, bringing the lives reported lost to the virus since the start of 2022 to 24, an average of one per day. The unprecedented level of spread caused by the new variant led to many vulnerable individuals becoming infected and seriously ill.
Testing
Getting testing for Covid has been a problem for weeks, as home tests are sold out and test facilities were backlogged given the stunning growth in community spread of the virus since early December 2021. Now, the federal government is making home tests available through the U.S. Postal Service and the supply of tests at local pharmacies is improving.
The presence of at-home tests in volume may make the interpretation of statistics concerning the spread of the virus more problematic, since most individuals with a positive home test but mild symptoms may never be officially counted.
Covid in Schools
Newly reported school data on the state’s Covid dashboard shows Cape May County with 130 new student cases and 49 new staff cases in the week ending Jan. 16.
With 60% of the county’s schools reporting, the county is even with the state average for the percentage of students excluded from in-person instruction due to Covid exposure. The county shows 7.2% of all students excluded and the state average is 7.5%. County school staff fully vaccinated stands at 84%, a percentage that remains in the bottom half of the state’s 21 counties.
Sand on Beaches
The county’s many engineered beaches are essential elements of the tourist economy. The cycle of federally sponsored beach replenishments is the fundamental defense against Mother Nature’s tendency to relocate sand where she will. The battle against erosion also includes intermittent back passing efforts that truck sand to the most eroded beaches in the intervals between federally funded hydraulic dredging of the beaches.
Problems with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service interpretation of a 1982 federal statute have interfered with the use of sand from Hereford Inlet for beach replenishments, leading to formal opposition to the federal position by a coalition of the municipalities of Avalon, Stone Harbor and North Wildwood. The opposition is squarely aimed at gaining access to the Hereford Inlet sand borrow areas in time for the scheduled 2022 federal replenishment. Meanwhile, North Wildwood has bonded for $2 million to aid in immediate transfer of sand to some of its more eroded beach areas.
Policing
The third installment of the Herald’s look at the cost of policing in local municipalities shows a financial advantage gained by Cape Island communities who have elected to share police services. Many factors go into any consideration about the size and expense of local policing and the Herald series is intended to provide a view of the numbers for residents who ultimately have the task of evaluating policing in their municipality.
Meanwhile, the Stone Harbor police chief gave the borough a perspective on the changing demands of police departments, including those emanating from state directives on police reform and community needs that go beyond crime prevention.
Happenings
Middle Township reached a settlement agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center that could lead to court approval of the municipality’s plan to meet its affordable housing obligations.
Fires hit homes on two county arteries this week, with a blaze on Stone Harbor Boulevard and another on Route 47, in Goshen.
The home that sat above the Shamrock bar was moved to a new location.
The County Bridge Commission approved a doubling of tolls on five county bridges on the same day that the County Planning Board adopted a new Comprehensive Plan it hopes will guide municipalities in land-use decisions.
Stone Harbor Property Owners Association called on the borough’s governing body to organize an information session for Seven Mile Island residents on the status and future prospects of the Ocean Wind I and II projects that will place wind farms along the county’s coast.
The Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) fund controversy in Cape May continues to linger one year after the city first identified a series of payments made to employees from the affordable housing trust fund without council approval.
Another delay in a final ruling on West Wildwood ex-Mayor Christopher Fox’s ethics charges was caused by a change in judges.
The impact of heating fuel inflation may have been blunted in December 2021 by the third warmest December on record in the county. Plenty of snow and arctic cold in January will force residents to heat their homes at prices significantly increased from the previous year.
The widow of a slain Philadelphia police officer will be honored as the grand marshal of North Wildwood’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Parking rules may be overhauled in North Wildwood. The city introduced an ordinance that will allow property owners to park in front of their own driveways. A similar ordinance is in place in Cape May.
Lower Cape May Regional will receive state funding for improving security. The funding will be allocated to the installation of silent panic alarms that alert law enforcement of a potential emergency.
The historic Franklin Street School may complete its repurposing into a county library branch by the start of summer 2023. Cape May City Council heard an encouraging report on the project’s progress.
Spout Off of the Week
Ocean City - Let’s make it easy and just raise the toll prices to $500. Do our lawmakers forget that there’s something called an election?
Read more spouts at spoutoff.capemaycountyherald.com.
