Patrons dining in pandemic bubbles outside Red Rock Tap + Grill in Red Bank earlier this month. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two more residents of the Atrium at Navesink Harbor in Red Bank have died from COVID-19 related causes, the the New Jersey Health Department reported late Wednesday.
All Red Bank Primary School students, and some in the middle school, will revert to remote instruction Thursday, Superintendent Jared Rumage said in an announcement Wednesday.
He cited a number of COVID-19-related factors as driving the change.
A Walgreens employee prepares to inject a resident of the Wesleyan in Red Bank with her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday. (Photo by Nick Delmar. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Monmouth County has recorded 115 COVID-19 related deaths since the start of the new year, according to data released by the New Jersey Health Department Friday.
The Atrium at Navesink Harbor on Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
State health officials cited a Red Bank longterm care facility that has been the scene of 10 recent COVID-19 deaths for “deficiencies” in its defense against the virus in November, redbankgreen has learned.
The Atrium at Navesink Harbor, the buildings at center and right, as seen from the Navesink River in 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Six more residents of an assisted-living facility in Red Bank have died of COVID-19 in recent days, data released by the New Jersey Health Department Monday indicate.
The Atrium at Navesink Harbor as seen from the Molly Pitcher Inn in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three residents of a senior assisted-living facility in Red Bank have died of COVID-19 since mid-December, according to data released by the New Jersey Health Department Monday.
The deaths at the Atrium at Navesink Harbor occurred as pandemic-driven hospitalizations, and the need for critical care, rose across Monmouth County.
An Immediate Care COVID-19 testing tent in Red Bank’s White Street lot Monday night. The company has been offering free tests at the site for weeks. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
COVID-19 pressure on Monmouth County hospitals continued to increase in the past week, according to the latest data from the county government.
At the same time, demand for intensive care and ventilators to treat patients with the virus showed slight signs of easing.
Separately, Red Bank Regional High announced a plan for free COVID-19 testing for staff and students.
Red Bank Regional High School goes back to a full-remote schedule Monday after a student who was present for two days last week tested positive for COVID-19, Superintendent Lou Moore announced Sunday.
Councilwoman Susan Sorensen working a booth at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair in 2013. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A divided council cleared financing to advance plans for new police and public works facilities in Fair Haven Monday night.
At its final session of 2020, the council also extended the employment of Theresa Casagrande as borough administrator and bid goodbye to Councilwoman Susan Sorensen.
Intensive care bed usage in Monmouth County hospitals rose to 60 Monday, the highest level since May, while hospitalizations for COVID-19 declined to 418, from 446 a week earlier, the freeholders reported. (Monmouth County data. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With an historic rollout of the first COVID-19 vaccine about to begin in New Jersey, “the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter,” Governor Phil Murphy said Monday.
At the same time, hospitals statewide and in Monmouth County are treating rising numbers of patients who need intensive care and ventilators because of the coronavirus, data show.
The construction fence surrounding an addition at Red Bank Regional High School has come down, in time for a resumption of a hybrid schedule that will bring students back to the Little Silver campus starting Monday, Superintendent Lou Moore announced Thursday.
But in Red Bank borough, RBR’s largest sending district, the primary and middle schools will remain off-limits to students and staff for another month due to the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic, Superintendent Jared Rumage said.
Red Bank schools, including the middle school, continued on all-remote learning Monday after a planned return to a hybrid schedule was postponed. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Governor Phil Murphy warned of a delayed post-Thanksgiving COVID-19 surge Monday, while cautioning New Jersey residents against gathering over the coming holiday season.
A temporary tent outside Riverview Medical Center’s emergency room entrance in May. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The current resurgence in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in New Jersey is not having an adverse impact on the hospital network that includes Red Bank’s Riverview Medical Center, the organization said in a statement Thursday.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to rise in New Jersey, data show. (New Jersey Health Department graphic. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Though New Jersey’s rate of COVID-19 transmission has been easing in recent weeks, that data conceals a harsh reality, Governor Phil Murphy said at his regular briefing Wednesday.
At 1.08 percent, the rate of COVID-19 transmission is at its lowest point since September 16, but “it still means that each new case is leading to more than one other new case,” he said. “This virus is still spreading.”
Monmouth County hospitals were treating 344 COVID-19 patients as of Monday, the county freeholders reported. Of those, 48 patients were in intensive care and 32 were on ventilators.
In its daily news release Tuesday, the county reported an increase of 309 confirmed COVID-19 cases in its 53 municipalities from Monday, for a total 20,626 since the start of the pandemic in March.
Separately, the New Jersey Health Department website indicated that, as of Tuesday, 816 Monmouth County resident deaths had been attributed to COVID-19, up 5 from Monday. Another 92 deaths were considered “probable,” according to the agency’s pandemic dashboard.
Ninety deaths statewide were added to the pandemic’s toll Tuesday, bringing the total to 15,254, the agency reported.
Borough facilities will reopen Tuesday, Shehady said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s borough hall was closed Monday without public notice.
In response to redbankgreen inquiry Monday afternoon, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said the shutdown was effective “just today” and imposed “as an added safety precaution after the holidays.”
Monmouth County hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 have been rising steeply in recent weeks. (Monmouth County government data. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With COVID-19 hospitalizations rising rapidly, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy implored residents to curtail their traditional Thanksgiving gatherings this week.
“We know that there are those who are so yearning for normalcy that they’re willing to risk their family’s health for a big Thanksgiving,” he said at his regular briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic Monday. But “we urge you to think beyond this holiday,” he said.
Hundreds lined up for free virus tests offered by Immediate Care in Red Bank’s White Street parking lot Saturday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations climbing sharply across the United States and around the world, the case total in Red Bank since the start of the pandemic eclipsed 500 Tuesday.
Monmouth County government data show the the latest 100 cases among borough residents were recorded in only 17 days.
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A plan for bike lanes would advance with a parking ban on the north side of River Road between Lake Avenue and Hance Road. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Parking, borough facilities and more will keep Fair Haven’s elected officials busy on their Zoom session Tuesday night.
Also on the agenda: a plan to terminate an “interlocal services” agreement under which Fair Haven disposes of Rumson’s collected yard brush.
Under the proposal, most of Henry Street would be eliminated and a new playground built alongside Mohawk Pond. (CME Associates graphic. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A street that effectively serves as shortcut past the main entrance to Count Basie Fields would be closed to traffic under a concept plan discussed by the Red Bank council Wednesday night.
The proposed trail would run between the cherry blossom trees lining Fair Haven Road and the eastern edge of Fair Haven Fields. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven officials have dusted off a three-year-old proposal that would add a stone-dust trail to the roadside portions of Fair Haven Fields.
It would also cut the cost of removing excess vegetation from McCarter Pond, they said.
Students would receive in-school instruction just two days a week under the plan unveiled Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank school officials have begun nailing down a COVID-19-era reopening plan while “standing on shifting ground,” in the words of a board of education member.
On Wednesday, the district unveiled “the most likely scenario for September” in the form of a plan that calls for a mix of classroom and at-home learning.
Under the plan, “share the road” sharrows would be painted in both directions through the eastern business district. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A debate over proposed bike lanes and share-the-road markings along the length of River Road in Fair Haven rolled on Monday night.
One week after he broke a tie to advance the plan, Mayor Ben Lucarelli brought in some “sources of authority” on the issue. But opposition, even among some bikers, continued.
Case growth in Red Bank, Fair Haven and Little Silver. (Monmouth County data. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Monmouth County has now surpassed 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, the freeholder board announced Thursday.
But four months into the pandemic, the county’s caseload and fatalities have slowed dramatically from the worst of the crisis in early April.
Pilgrim Baptist Church is one of six sites in Monmouth County that will offer the tests. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank-area residents will be able to get free, no-appointment COVID-19 tests starting next month under a program co-funded by Monmouth County and a philanthropic organization.