Verona has recorded its 700th positive case of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 since Essex County began keeping statistics on the virus last March. The statistic was announced by the county this morning.
While Verona had reached 600 positives only on January 23, it does appear that the rate of increase in positives is slowing, both in Verona and across Essex County. Verona had a 35% increase in positives in January (after a 56% surge in December), but the rate of increase this month is only 8.2% so far.
Still, Verona remains one of the top towns in Essex County for new positive cases of COVID-19. We have the third highest rate of increase in positives, after Nutley (10.7%) and Glen Ridge (8.5%). The lowest rates of increase this month are in Irvington, (4.5%), Essex Fells (4.4%) and Caldwell (3.9%). The rate of increase in Newark, the county’s largest city, is 6.6%.
The number of deaths in Verona from COVID-19 remains unchanged at 16. While that may not seem to be a large number, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death here in 2020. But there continues to be an increase in deaths in the county’s poorest cities, like Newark, Irvington, East Orange and Orange.
Essex County is making progress, albeit slow, in its vaccination drive against the virus. On Saturday, County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. said the county gave first doses of the COVID vaccine to 1,726 people and second doses to 1,129 people at its five vaccination centers. The county, which has an estimated population of 799,785, has now dispensed 55,235 first doses and 16,618 second doses.
Today we gave first doses of the COVID vaccine to 1,726 people and second doses to 1,129 people at our 5 vaccination centers. That brings our 38 day total to 55,235 first doses and 16,618 second doses. #EssexCounty #PuttingEssexCountyFirst pic.twitter.com/PVEKlU5TRE
— Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. (@Joe_D_EssexExec) February 13, 2021
Essex County will run its free COVID-19 testing at three locations this coming week. On Tuesday, February 16, it will be at the county Hall of Records’ employee parking deck from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. On Thursday, February 18, it will be at the county Department of Public Works on West Bradford Avenue in Cedar Grove from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, February 20, it will be at the commuter parking deck at the South Mountain Recreation Complex from 8 a.m. to noon. To make an appointment at any site, go to www.EssexCovid.org or call 973-877-8456.
