Town-By-Town Essex County COVID-19 Cases Keep Climbing

Eric Kiefer
Updated ·6 min read

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Officials continue to sound the horn about a rise in the coronavirus across Essex County, including the mayor of New Jersey’s largest city, who says there’s been a “serious spike” in local case totals.

On Monday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the city plans to begin taking “serious measures” to slow the spread in the face of a recent spike of COVID-19.

According to city officials, Newark reported a test positivity rate of 11.2 percent on Oct. 18 using a three-day rolling average, in comparison to New Jersey’s test positivity rate of 5.28 percent.

“Wear your mask,” Baraka reminded local residents, noting that Newark has seen more cases of the virus than every other city in Essex County combined. (See town-by-town totals below)

Administrators at Seton Hall University in South Orange also reported a rise in COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

“The vast majority of our Seton Hall community has excelled in keeping one another safe,” administrators said. “However, as cases rise across the country, state and region, Seton Hall has begun to experience an increase in positive cases, primarily off-campus.”

The rates of infection at Seton Hall remain “substantially below the county and state rates,” administrators added.

“The majority of the recent cases are primarily related to two clusters, one among athletic teams and the other within a Greek organization,” Seton Hall stated. “Consistent with university protocols, health services is working closely with the Village of South Orange on contact tracing, conducting testing and has quarantined or isolated identified individuals.”

Other towns in the county have also seen a significant increase in cases, including Nutley, which saw 52 new cases of the virus between Oct. 9 and Friday, officials said.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said Saturday that coronavirus cases in the county are on the rise, and that the area is experiencing a “second surge of the virus.”

“Now is not the time to let our guard down,” DiVincenzo cautioned. “To protect yourself and the health of those around you, we must continue to wear masks, practice social distancing and wash our hands regularly. Together we can stop the spread.”

Last week, the state Department of Health's COVID-19 Activity Level Report said that the coronavirus activity level rose from "low" to "moderate" over the past week in 10 more New Jersey counties, including Essex County.

Officials didn't say whether they believed the state was nearing the end of the first wave or if the second wave has begun. State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said they never considered the first wave to be over.

Since then, several towns and officials throughout the county have reported spikes, outbreaks and overall rises in the number of cases.

Montclair recently saw 28 new cases in a week. West Orange has seen its biggest weekly jump in coronavirus cases since June. Officials in North Caldwell recently warned about an outbreak throughout the West Essex area. And Maplewood officials have warned that residents need to change the way they’re behaving or people may get very sick… or worse.

Some of the cases include students and staff at local school districts, and have triggered closures.

Last week, Shereef Elnahal, the CEO of University Hospital in Newark and the former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health, said the “second wave has begun.”

Elnahal tweeted an update about the situation at University Hospital on Monday.

As of Monday, there have been 23,771 cumulative cases of COVID-19 in Essex County, according to state department of health data. Only Bergen County had more, with 24,527 positive test results.

There have been 1,910 confirmed deaths linked to the disease in Essex County, the highest total in any county in the state. There have also been 230 "probable deaths" connected to the virus, data showed.

Essex County officials released cumulative COVID-19 totals for each town and city on Monday, noting that their daily report may not match state or municipal totals (here's why). Patch has included the U.S. Census' most recent population estimates for each municipality.

  • Belleville – 1,324 cases, 67 deaths (population: 36,497)

  • Bloomfield – 1,373 cases, 69 deaths (population: 49,973)

  • Caldwell – 151 cases, 11 deaths (population: 7,941)

  • Cedar Grove – 524 cases, 114 deaths (population: 12,489)

  • East Orange – 2,242 cases, 232 deaths (population: 64,367)

  • Essex Fells – 42 cases, 2 deaths (population: 2,085)

  • Fairfield – 208 cases, 17 deaths (population: 7,474)

  • Glen Ridge – 57 cases, 9 deaths (population: 7,574)

  • Irvington – 1,734 cases, 162 deaths (population: 54,312)

  • Livingston – 622 cases, 71 deaths (population: 30,303)

  • Maplewood – 396 cases, 27 deaths (population: 25,380)

  • Millburn – 198 cases, 6 deaths (population: 20,080)

  • Montclair – 583 cases, 52 deaths (population: 38,564)

  • Newark – 10,174 cases, 672 deaths (population: 282,011)

  • North Caldwell – 83 cases, 4 deaths (population: 6,621)

  • Nutley – 657 cases, 36 deaths (population: 28,434)

  • Orange – 1,195 cases, 93 deaths (population: 30,551)

  • Roseland – 120 cases, 14 deaths (population: 5,835)

  • South Orange – 160 cases, 5 deaths (population: 16,691)

  • Verona – 199 cases, 14 deaths (population: 13,390)

  • West Caldwell – 331 cases, 49 deaths (population: 10,837)

  • West Orange – 1,534 cases, 186 deaths (population: 47,563)

Here's where each municipality's COVID-19 totals stood a week ago on Oct. 19.

  • Belleville – 1,250 cases, 67 deaths (population: 36,497)

  • Bloomfield – 1,320 cases, 69 deaths (population: 49,973)

  • Caldwell – 144 cases, 11 deaths (population: 7,941)

  • Cedar Grove – 516 cases, 113 deaths (population: 12,489)

  • East Orange – 2,197 cases, 231 deaths (population: 64,367)

  • Essex Fells – 38 cases, 2 deaths (population: 2,085)

  • Fairfield – 203 cases, 17 deaths (population: 7,474)

  • Glen Ridge – 55 cases, 9 deaths (population: 7,574)

  • Irvington – 1,663 cases, 162 deaths (population: 54,312)

  • Livingston – 603 cases, 70 deaths (population: 30,303)

  • Maplewood – 387 cases, 27 deaths (population: 25,380)

  • Millburn – 191 cases, 6 deaths (population: 20,080)

  • Montclair – 560 cases, 52 deaths (population: 38,564)

  • Newark – 9,392 cases, 670 deaths (population: 282,011)

  • North Caldwell – 77 cases, 4 deaths (population: 6,621)

  • Nutley – 621 cases, 36 deaths (population: 28,434)

  • Orange – 1,148 cases, 92 deaths (population: 30,551)

  • Roseland – 110 cases, 14 deaths (population: 5,835)

  • South Orange – 144 cases, 5 deaths (population: 16,691)

  • Verona – 187 cases, 14 deaths (population: 13,390)

  • West Caldwell – 326 cases, 48 deaths (population: 10,837)

  • West Orange – 1,474 cases, 186 deaths (population: 47,563)

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

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This article originally appeared on the Newark Patch