Camden taking a hard COVID-19 hit

Coronavirus cases continue to surge in New Jersey

FOX 29's Jeff Cole reports.

CAMDEN, N.J. - COVID cases continue to surge across the region and across the country, and southern New Jersey is no different.

Camden County is seeing frightening spikes of the virus which has already infected over 4,000 residents and killed 91.

“Got to follow the rules. Not everybody doing six feet and wearing masks. Got to be careful for the family, you know?” explained Alex Cruz.

The mayor says the city is testing and tracing for COVID, but the disease has the upper hand as cold weather has forced residents indoors in tightly packed homes.

“We have folks who work in food service, vulnerable positions and are exposed. Many live in households with a couple generations living in the same household. Really a concern for us,” Mayor Frank Moran explained.

Moran says COVID is also hammering the city’s budget, limiting his ability to help small businesses.

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Statewide, New Jersey is reporting over 4,000 new cases and the governor, along with other east coast leaders, are worried about college students coming home for Thanksgiving.

“We are, as a group, are asking all of our colleges and universities to make COVID testing available to all residential students before they leave for Thanksgiving,” Gov. Phil Murphy stated.

In the most densely populated state, another 27 residents were claimed by COVID for a total of nearly 15,000 deaths.

In his COVID briefing, Murphy said Camden County is getting “slugged” by the virus, while South Jersey has a positive testing rate of over 12 percent.

“There is no way to sugarcoat these numbers. They’re not good and getting worse,” Gov. Murphy lamented.

In Camden, the challenges of poverty and drug addiction have no gone away. For now, they’ve been shoved aside by a killer on the loose.

“I think the winter is going to be cold and there will be many more sick people. I keep myself positive,” Claudia Blanco stated.

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