The number of people tested positive for the new coronavirus in Paterson increased by 21 – lowest daily increase in two months — to 6,108 on Friday afternoon, according to municipal government data.

Data shows the last time the daily cases were this low was on March 23, eighth day into the pandemic, when Paterson had just 8 cases.

Paterson’s daily cases peaked on April 16 with 262 infections, data shows.

Much of the success in reducing the daily increases has been attributed to social distancing and aggressive contact tracing by the Paterson Strike Team.

Local officials were slow to set up testing sites. The city’s first non-governmental testing site, run by a private doctor, opened on May 4. Since then, the number of testing sites have increased to six.

Nursing homes

Paterson nursing homes have 43 infected residents with eight deaths. 32 employees at the nursing homes tested positive for the virus.

Data shows Doctors Sub Acute Care on Birch Street has 30 infected residents, 19 staff, and 1 death. Complete Care at Fair Lawn Edge on East 43rd Street has 13 infected residents, 13 staff, and 7 deaths.

One new death was reported on Friday, bringing the total fatalities from Covid-19 in Paterson to 308.

Paterson has the largest outbreak of the virus in Passaic County.

Passaic County has 15,604 infections with 881 deaths. Overall, New Jersey has 152,719 cases with 10,985 fatalities.

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