PHOTO COURTESY OF MONROE TOWNSHIP

Monroe new COVID-19 cases remain low, township loses one more resident in long-term care facility

MONROE – Monroe officials reported eight new positive COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases to 651, according to the Monroe Township Office of Emergency Management on May 16.

The new cases include five residents in a long-term care facilities and three community-wide – a 27-year-old male, a 48-year-old female, a 68-year-old female, an 82-year-old make, an 88-year-old female, a 95-year-old female, a 97-year-old female and a female with an unknown age.

Monroe has lost 89 residents to COVID-19, 67 in long-term care facilities and 22 community-wide.

There are 45 known positive COVID-19 cases from the New Jersey Training School for Boys.

The township provided a summary of cases from March 14 to May 14. The cases include 295 men, 46%, with an average age of 54, and 348 women, 54%, with an average age of 67.

The township announced the cancellation of the township Recreation Summer Day Camp, July Fourth fireworks at Thompson Park, and all Senior Center group programming through July 31 in the best interest of public health and safety.

The Monroe Township Food Pantry provides assistance for residents, families in need. For more information contact Karen Theer at 609-448-7140. Another resource is the Middlesex County Food Organization and Outreach Services (MCFOODS) Directory, which directs people to an agency in their area that can provide them with emergency food assistance as well as Jewish Family Services. For more information and MCFOODS email [email protected] or call 732-729-0880 and for Jewish Family Services call 609-395-7979.

Donations to the food pantry can be mailed to Office of Senior Services, 12 Halsey Reed Road, Monroe Township, NJ 08831, Re: Food Pantry. Checks should be made payable to “Friends of the Senior Center” with “Food Bank” written in the memo line of the check.

Antibody testing is now available along with COVID-19 testing at MyInstaDoc, 298 Applegarth Road for anyone wishing to be tested. The facility will serve pre-registered COVID-19 testing patients from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Antibody blood testing will be conducted in-office by appointment.

To be considered, a patient must be free from all COVID-19 symptoms for no less than 14 days. This test will assess them for subclinical infection in the past.

The COVID-19 drive-thru testing site serves pre-registered patients from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and drive-up patients from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays. Pre-register at www.myinstadocmonroe.com or call 609-207-3220 to speak with a medical professional. A person does not have to be symptomatic to be tested.

For more information visit www.COVID19.nj.gov.

For Middlesex County information on COVID-19 information visit discovermiddlesex.com/covid19/ or www.middlsexcountynj.gov/covid19.