Gov. Phil Murphy is warning that new COVID cases will increase in New Jersey in the near future but not to a level that will trigger a return to statewide mandates.
In a press statement released March 17 with New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, they stated “we are closely watching the recent rise in global COVID numbers and, given both previous trends with regard to spread and our location as an international nexus for travel and trade, we do anticipate that we will eventually see an increase in the number of cases in New Jersey.
“However, at this time, we do not anticipate any need to reinstate universal statewide mandated protective measures.”
New Variant
The increase in cases worldwide is being linked to the BA.2 variant. This variant made up 39% of COVID strains in New Jersey and New York for the week ending on March 12 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rising from 17.3% the prior week.
Murphy and other state health officials in the past have noted the pattern of cases rising in Europe were harribengers for the Garden State. The Omicron variant this month began its second sweep through Europe, with the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Italy seeing an upswing last week.
Global Rise
Cases per capita in Europe were already far higher than any other region in the world when they began creeping up again earlier this month. The continent is now recording 95 cases per 100,000 people, after bottoming out at 87 on March 3; the United States and Canada, by comparison, are recording 10 cases per 100,000 people.
Besides Europe, news cases in Asia have raised concerns. China recently locked down the city of Changchun, closed schools in Shanghai and urged the public not to leave Beijing. Hong Kong has seen its worst spike in recent weeks after limiting COVID’s spread for almost two years, reporting more than 700,000 COVID-19 infections and about 4,200 deaths, most of them in the past three weeks.
As for New Jersey, Murphy expressed optimism that the state’s health care infrastructure will remains strong as the Garden State continues “to be among the nation’s most-vaccinated states.” He encouraged residents to stay up to date with vaccinations and boosters, get tested when exposed or sick, and for those who are immunocompromised or otherwise at high risk are encouraged to follow the guidance of their health care provider and the CDC.
Managing An Endemic
After reaching a peak of 33,459 new daily cases on Jan. 7 and 6,089 hospitalizations on Jan. 11, the state reported March 18 of 1,005 new cases and 409 hospitalized at the 70 of 71 hospitals reporting.
The statement was released 10 days after the governor ended a school mask mandate across the state and ordered an end to the public health emergency the state had been under since March 2020. Murphy said the moves were made as it was time endemic stage of the virus.
The governor ended by stating “We are not going to manage COVID to zero nor are we impervious to the virus. We expect COVID to continue to mutate and cases to continue to ebb and flow. Moving to an endemic status still means we must all take personal responsibility to protect ourselves and our loved ones.”
Latest COVID-19 numbers in New Jersey as of March 18 from the New Jersey Department of Health:
COVID-19 cases:
New daily PCR cases: 1,005; Probable Cases: 288
Total Cases: 2,186,846 (1,888,440 PCR cases, 298,406 probable cases)
New Confirmed Deaths: 9 (5 probable deaths, 33,155 total deaths)
Rate of Transmission: 0.84, for a second day in a row
Percent Positivity: 3.7% as of March 13; by region, the rate was 3.9% in the North, 4.0% in the Central region and 2.9% in the South
By County:
Bergen County: 150 New Cases, 60 Probable Cases, 3,097 deaths, 321 probable deaths
Essex County: 99 New Cases, 28 Probable Cases, 3,277 deaths, 311 probable deaths
Hudson County: 186 New Cases, 23 Probable Cases, 2,489 total deaths, 221 probable deaths
Morris County: 65 New Cases, 27 Probable Cases, 1,225 deaths, 297 probable deaths
Passaic County: 44 New Cases, 19 Probable Cases, 2,125 deaths, 200 probable deaths
Sussex County: 5 New Cases, 7 Probable Case, 381 deaths, 88 probable deaths
Warren County: 13 New Cases, 2 Probable Cases, 313 deaths, 27 probable deaths
Hospitals
Hospitalizations: 409 (149 North, 144 Central and 116 South)
Patients in intensive care units: 84
Patients on ventilators: 51
Patients discharged: 80
The state dashboard showed 70 of 71 hospitals in the state reporting
Long-term Care Facilities
Facilities currently reporting one case: 222 (2,388 overall)
Current number of residents: 6,073 (47,279 overall)
Current number of staffers: 6,789 (38,224 overall)
Number of Deaths: 9,364 overall (8,524 reported by facilities, 149 staff deaths)
Vaccine
Total number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in New Jersey: 14,363,013 (13,796,234 in-state, plus an additional 566,779 administered out-of-state)
Fully Vaccinated: 6,800,438 (6,574,258 in state and another 226,180 out of state) By county, 718,378 in Bergen County, 588,746 in Essex, 525,720 in Hudson, 384,717 in Morris, 357,741 in Passaic, 92,362 in Sussex, and 60,278 in Warren.
Booster Shots: 3,182,247 (1,755,170 Pfizer, 1,360,080 Moderna and 66,997 Johnson & Johnson)
RULE #1 — NEVER TAKE HEALTH ADVICE FROM A MASS MURDERER.
What’s the difference between NJ Governor Phil Murphy and serial killer Ted Bundy?
Ted Bundy only killed 36 people. Murphy killed thousands.
Report: NJ Gov. Murphy Office Warned ‘Patients Will Die’ Before Ordering COVID Patients into Nursing Homes
‘Patients will die,’ an administrator reportedly told Murphy’s office.
“Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s office was warned that ordering nursing homes to readmit residents recovering from COVID-19 would lead to unnecessary deaths, a new report reveals.
But Murphy went ahead with implementing the order anyway—KNOWING THAT PEOPLE WOULD DIE!”
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/coronavirus-new-jersey-governor-phil-murphy-nursing-home-patients-will-die
Although there was little choice for Gov. Murphy in sending patients to nursing homes, given that they couldn’t simply remain in the hospital and weren’t able to remain at home. The real culprit are the profit-driven nursing home operators, and the poor public health infrastructure in our country that left us unprepared to handle the pandemic.
As for his statements regarding not implementing further mandates, mark my words, he will have to do so, but will only do so after many thousands die in our state from a huge resurgence of cases of deadly Omicron ba.2. I’d give it about a month before it explodes here. For political reasons, he has to show himself willing to listen to the noisy and uninformed minority of anti-maskers, and such before he can say, “well, we tried it your way…”
NOPE! Wrong again. The nursing homes with the worst records are the public state run state subsidized nursing homes. Thats were ALL the deaths were. Also the reason that protective measure are not needed is because NONE of them work. MASKS do NOT stop viruses . PERIOD! And they never did. Lockdowns and school closures were a total failure. On some level Murphy knows this. Also since the vaccines do not stop infection and spread and transmission, there is no reason at all to mandate them for anyone. Murphy followed the script and everything he did was a complete failure. ANd now he is just trying to cover his corrupt crony ass.
unfortunately you are correct. even if Murphy thought he was doing the right thing, his actions resulted in the unncessary deaths of thousands of people and now he is just trying to cover himself.
Masks have NO effect on Covid transmission.. hear that NO effect… NOt at all. not even a little bit.
https://www.justfacts.com/news_face_masks_deadly_falsehoods
Good grief, give it a rest. Viruses have been with us since time immemorial and will continue to be with us for as long as human beings inhabit the earth. When you factor out the 94% of “Covid deaths” that the CDC admits were not caused BY the virus, the death rate is in line with normal flu season totals. Even using the CDC’s grossly overstated death figures, the cumulative death rate is still only 0.29%, and that’s over two years. Most of those deaths (75%) were in people 65 and older who were very sick to begin with. Anyone who is afraid of a 0.29% chance of death is free to hide under their bed and wear their precious masks 24/7; by my observation, that may be about a third of the country. The rest of us are done with your masks, your lockdowns, and your Covid theatre.
Actually, the current scientific view is that the COVID death rate is 3x higher than the official stats of just under 1 million US dead FROM COVID. In other words, a massive undercount.
Source?
James, the source is a peer reviewed article published in The Lancet:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02796-3/fulltext
AGAIN! Gov. Phil Murphy is correct, as this very Intelligent Bio-SARS Agent is continuing to Mutate!! It’s still important to stay vigilant & avoid unnecessary exposures!! Also, a well Lit, Ventilated & open Environment 0ffer’s better Safety!! AND; In those Immortal Words 0f Yogi Bear, “It ain’t 0ver till the phat Lady Sing’s.” 0r’n; It ain’t 0ver till it’s 0ver.. Best y’all heed the Governor’s Words..//