WOODBRIDGE – Woodbridge total positive COVID-19 cases has surpassed the 1,000 mark with a report of 74 additional cases, according to Mayor John McCormac in his daily report on April 23.
“Once again we are alternating between good days and bad days and the last 24 hours was a bad day,” he said. “[The 74 additional cases is] our fourth highest daily total in April compared to yesterday’s 21, which was our fourth lowest. This puts our grand total over the 1,000 mark to 1,069.”
McCormac said it is hard to generate any conclusions from the wide variations in the daily numbers. Township officials put together a bar chart of the number of cases.
“It really looked much better for the last 12 days since our worst day, but today’s number really reverses that trend,” he said. “We know of 20 deaths in Woodbridge due to the virus though the number is likely higher. As we said a few days ago, the death certificates are not always indicating a cause of death and in many cases the actual cause was some other condition that was exacerbated by the virus so the other condition is indicated as the cause.”
The township’s fatality rate from COVID-19 is 2% and although likely higher, it is still well below the state’s rate of 5.3%, the mayor said.
Township officials reached out to about 300 people from the earliest reported cases. Approximately 40% of the list said they are fully recovered and about 40% said they are recovering. The other 20% could not been reached.
“Overall this is also very good news,” McCormac said. “We don’t want people to think there are 1,000 people around Woodbridge who are still very sick.”
The mayor continues to urge neighbors to check on people who live alone and cannot leave their homes.
McCormac, in his report, recognized Gershon Alexander of PAG Investments for a $2,500 contribution to We Feed Woodbridge as well as Colonia Pharmacy, Vista Travel, P and A Construction and Iselin American Legion T. Nulty Post 471 for $1,000 worth of contributions.
“To all of you who also sent in checks, thank you very much,” he said. “Our biggest concern going forward will be the availability of food for those who cannot afford it and that list is growing daily.”
Checks can be sent payable to We Feed Woodbridge, which distributes funds to the 11 food banks in the township. The checks can be sent to the township Health Center at 2 George Frederick Plaza, Woodbridge, NJ 07095 or Town Hall at 1 Main Street, Woodbridge, NJ 07095.
For more COVID-19 information, visit covid19.nj.gov. Visit www.twp.woodbridge.nj.us for local information.
For Middlesex County information visit discovermiddlesex.com/covid19/ or www.middlsexcountynj.gov/covid19.