The table below reflects common questions about COVID-19 and provides resources for finding answers. While state and county health information is readily available, assessing the impact of COVID-19 on Trenton–or any specific community–remains challenging due to the lack of timely reported local data. View the latest update chart at outbreak.info »
In determining the best source for each question, THT considered three criteria: Is data for Trenton and Mercer County available? How well does each source document where they get the data for the measure? How well does each source clearly document their methodology for calculating the measure? THT then selected the source best addressing all three criteria to provide the most reliable answer.
Question | Target Outcome | Best Source: Mercer County | Best Source: Trenton | ||
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What is the recent trend of new COVID-19 cases? | Declining or stable 7-day rolling average | ✅ | Outbreak.info: 7-day average trends for Mercer County, benchmarked side-by-side against New Jersey [1] | ☑ | Mercer County COVID Dashboard: daily counts of new infections, but no 7-day average or graphical display |
How rapidly is the virus spreading? | Rate of Transmission (Rt) < 1.0 | ✅ | COVID Act Now: Can also be benchmarked against New Jersey results | ❌ | Not available |
7-day average of new cases per 100K people < 10 (ideally, < 1) | ✅ | COVID Act Now: Can also be benchmarked against New Jersey results | ❌ | Not available | |
Is testing adequate? | % of tests positive over last 7 days < 3% | ☑ | NJ COVID-19 Dashboard: Daily Percent Positivity Reported by All Laboratories; only Central Jersey 6-county region data available | ❌ | Not available |
What is the recent trend of hospitalizations? | Declining or stable trend | ☑ | NJ COVID-19 Dashboard, Hospital Census tabtab; only Central Jersey six county region data available | ❌ | Not available |
Do we have enough ICU capacity in the event of a surge? | % ICU utilization | ✅ | COVID Act Now: Can also be benchmarked against New Jersey results [2] | ❌ | Not available |
Key: ✅ = Fully available, ☑ = Partially available, ❌ = Not available at this time |
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[1] Data listed for Trenton on the outbreak.info is actually for the Trenton-Princeton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is actually Mercer County | |||||
[2] Note from Covid Act Now site: “County data is currently in beta. Because counties don’t report hospitalizations, our forecasts may not be as accurate.” |