South Jersey | Covid19

effects in south jersey

testing gone wrong

While New York City emerged as the center of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, neighboring New Jersey was close behind in the amount of cases and deaths caused by the virus. Most of the data gathered about New Jersey’s cases focused on the northern portion of the state, leaving South Jersey in the dark when it came to the availability of testing in the region, and the famous shore towns left to fend for themselves in regulating a large influx of off-season visitors. South Jersey is lacking the ability to properly keep track of the number of COVID-19 cases that its counties are seeing.

While we know the first coronavirus related death in South Jersey occured on March 22nd in Camden County, there is no documentation of the first case in the area. The lack of testing sites available to residents leads to a lack of diagnoses, which could potentially result in a significantly larger number of cases in the southern portion of the state then we are led to believe.

As of April 26, 2020, the state of New Jersey has seen over 109,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. While the majority of the confirmed cases come from the northern portion of the state, the southern portion only makes up for only 13,874 of them. The number of the confirmed cases may seem significantly lower,

which could have plenty to do with the fact that South Jersey sees significantly less people per square mile than North Jersey does, but it doesn’t accurately represent the actual number of cases residents are seeing. With a lack of testing sites available, residents of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem Counties aren’t seeking out diagnoses as frequently.

In North Jersey, the first government-run coronavirus testing center opened on March 20 at Bergen Community College. Since its opening, officials have administered 350 tests per day and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has provided 2,500 tests each week. Three more drive-through testing centers opened in Hudson, Union and Monmouth counties March 23.

The first testing center in South Jersey opened on March 26 -- for one day only with just 160 test slots -- in Burlington County. However, the county began to offer more testing services in April.

Ocean County was quick to follow, opening their testing center on March 30, but only offering services to Ocean county residents who have a prescription and who pre-registered.

On April 1, a testing site opened in Camden County with only 100 test slots per day and 500 per week. Next in South Jersey was Gloucester County, opening a testing site on April 9. Cape May County followed suit and opened its first testing site on April 15 at Cape May County Technical High School, and is in service only one day a week to county residents who are CompleteCare patients. All other patients must obtain a script from their doctor prior to coming to the site.

Salem County has a testing site in Woodstown. Residents looking to get tested at the only site in the county must provide identification that they are a resident of the county and must make an appointment. Appointments must be made between 9am and 1pm on Mondays and Wednesdays only.

Atlantic County has three testing sites available to permanent residents of the county, two in Atlantic City and one in Mays Landing. Two of the sites -- the Mays Landing site and the Showboat Casino site in Atlantic City -- are only open for residents on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while the other is open on Wednesdays and Fridays. Testing in Mayslanding began April 14, while Atlantic City lagged behind and had no testing available until April 27. All three sites require a doctor’s prescription and ID or proof that you’re a legal resident of Atlantic County, and those looking to get tested are required to call ahead and make an appointment.

South Jersey finally saw more available testing, but not until late April and even early May. The region is not immune to coronavirus and the late response from officials for more testing leaves many without a clue as to how badly their local area is affected.

Camden County is the only county in South Jersey with more than 3 testing sites -- residents in this county have a total of 9 testing sites available, as of May 10. Cumberland County and Burlington County, also as of May 10, each have 2 and 3 sites respectively, with Burlington offering both walk-up and by-appointment testing. Burlington County is the only South Jersey county offering tests that do not require a prior appointment or doctor’s note, however they’re given out on a limited basis and only to patients who are deemed necessary after a screening.

Other South Jersey counties are lucky to have any testing sites at all, with several counties only having one site available. As of May 11, other areas, like Ocean County, have already started scaling back on testing, while Bergen County in North Jersey has expanding their testing to include asymptomatic individuals.

The testing site at the Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing, photo courtesy of David Danzis, Press of Atlantic City

The line of cars waiting outside of Bergen Community College’s Testing site on March 21, photograph courtesy of Michael Karas, NorthJersey.com