WOODBRIDGE – Woodbridge officials reported 16 new positive COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the township to 1,421, according to Mayor John McCormac in his daily report on May 7.
The number of new coronavirus cases in Woodbridge remains at a very low level,” he said. “That number compares favorably with just about any daily average we can draw in the last six weeks. By comparison, the last five days have seen a total of 72 new cases and on three individual days in April we had more than that.”
The St. Joseph’s Nursing Home and Assisted Living Facility positive COVID-19 cases remain at 47. The township is reporting statistics from the nursing home separately.
The residents at St. Joseph’s Nursing Home devastated by COVID-19 were initially counted in the township’s statistics before residents were moved to another facility out of town on March 25. On April 16, residents started moving back home after a massive cleaning effort. On May 4, the last resident has moved back to the facility.
The township has lost 45 residents from COVID-19, plus 15 residents from St. Joseph’s Nursing Home.
“As we said a while back though, that number is likely very low because many passings are attributed to underlying conditions and illnesses even though people would have lived longer without the additional strain of COVID-19,” he said. “A look at the local obituaries confirms that the virus is really responsible for more deaths than are being attributed to it.”
Keep Middlesex Moving, a non-profit transportation management association, challenges people to ride their bike during the month of May and they will donate food to the We Feed Woodbridge food banks. For more information visit the township’s website or www.kmm.org.
The township has extended the grace period for the May 1 property tax bills from May 10 to May 31. The state only granted permission for the action on April 28 so the township could not act until this week’s Township Council meeting, McCormac said.
The mayor continues to urge neighbors to check on people who live alone and cannot leave their homes and to continue to follow the rules and guidelines for social distancing, good personal hygiene, proper disposal of trash and avoiding non-essential travel.
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.