More than two dozen first responders on Long Beach Island tested positive for the coronavirus after attending social gatherings outside of work, health officials said Friday.
“The health department began receiving reports of COVID-19 activity between Surf City first responders on Saturday, July 18 and Harvey Cedars first responders on Sunday, July 19,” said Daniel J. Krupinski, director of the Long Health Department. Beach Island to the Philadelphia public radio station. WHY
Krupinski, who could not immediately be reached by NBC News for comment Monday, said first responders on the barrier island and the popular summer destination are being isolated.
At least 12 of the positive cases come from Surf City, NJ, and 17 from Harvey Cedars, according to WHYY and Associated Press.
“We have reason to believe that the activity in the case comes from common social gatherings outside of work on July 12 and 14,” Krupinski said, stressing that health officials do not believe they have contracted COVID-19 on the beach or in the job.
Dr. Ed Lifshitz, director of the New Jersey Department of Health’s Communicable Diseases Service, said earlier this month that he believes indoor parties in places like Long Beach Island are responsible for the cases, according to WHYY. The New Jersey Department of Health could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
“We certainly have evidence that there have been indoor parties associated with beach towns and other places,” he said.
A Long Beach local government representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
New Jersey was one of the first states affected by the coronavirus, and has recorded more than 180,000 cases and 15,000 deaths.
In California, now the state with the most cases, 11 first responders tested positive for COVID-19 in Newport Beach, according to NBC Los Angeles. The cases were confirmed on Sunday. Health officials believe the numbers occurred through “community outreach” and not at work.
While these responders are not believed to have contracted the virus on the job, the job has become more difficult during the pandemic. First responders must often make direct contact with the people they are trying to save.
Tom Gill, a spokesman for the non-profit organization United States Lifesaving Association, told NBC News in May that “at the end of the day, there will be times when you will have to get very close, but there are many ways to minimize the impact.”
