Sussex reports low rate of virus transmission
Sussex County. County supervisors say Sussex County had the third-lowest COVID-19 count in the state as of Sept. 4.
| 08 Sep 2020 | 03:34
This chart shows the number of cases and deaths in Sussex County since the pandemic began, according to data from the county health department. There have been six deaths in the county since July 1 along with a steady trickle of new cases.
Sussex County had the third-lowest COVID-19 count in the state as of Sept. 4, say the county supervisors, referencing COVIDActNow.org, which put the county at 2.2 cases per 100,000 people, and the infection rate at 0.92.
On Sept. 2, Sussex County had a rate of coronavirus transmission of 0.95, meaning 100 individuals could infect 95 people, a figure less than the state average reported the same day of 0.96, the supervisors said.
They were responding to an article recently published in other media that said Sussex has the highest rate of transmission in the state.
Dr. Lama Chaddad, MD, public health epidemiologist for Sussex County’s Division of Health, said the county has a “green” status, meaning that it has low COVID-19 activity levels, a figure reconfirmed in a Sept. 3 report by New Jersey’s Department of Health, Communicable Disease Service. Chaddad said Sussex County’s daily case counts average at zero to three of the county’s approximately 144,000 Sussex residents, with the positive case counts each day typically in the single digits.
Recent fluctuations have occurred showing increased levels, she said, with some employees within Sussex County’s long-term-care facilities who are testing positive for COVID during weekly, routine testing. On one given day, there were 12 total cases within the county’s daily count, with six of those attributed to the long-term care facilities.
College students with permanent addresses in Sussex County who have tested positive while away at college out-of-state have also been factored in, she said.
Chaddad said the New Jersey Department of Health does not publish the COVID-19 rate of transmission by county because of discrepancies that can occur with counties that have lower case rates and populations, according to a response she received from the department’s Communicable Disease Service Medical Director, Dr. Edward Lifshitz, MD.
The rate of transmission “can fluctuate rapidly and this single number becomes a less reliable indicator (particularly on a daily basis) as to the situation on the ground,” Lifshitz wrote. Counties with low case rates will tend to see greater fluctuations, he said.
Supervisor Herbert Yardley said Sussex is one of four counties in the state that didn’t get any direct CARES Act funding from Congress, and that the governor withheld discretionary CARES funding from Sussex County for months.