New Jersey is very close to enacting new COVID-19 restrictions meant to bring the current surge in outbreaks and hospitalizations under control, Gov. Phil Murphy warned on Thursday.
“We are close,” he said at a press briefing on Thursday. “We’re looking at a number of different steps that we’re going to need to take.”
“We will clearly be taking action,” he added. “It will be action that will balance all the various challenges and interests.”
New Jersey logged more than 2,000 COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row, marking a third day of highs since the first wave hit the state in the spring that have all occurred in the past week.
Data from the New Jersey Department of Health show the state logged 2,104 new cases on Thursday and 2,472 new cases on Wednesday. The state logged 2,089 new cases on Oct. 30.
On May 6, as New Jersey was coasting down from the first wave of outbreaks, the state reported 2,494 new cases.
Gov. Phil Murphy promotes the U.S Census count alongside Mayor Stack in Union City on Sept. 22, 2020. – EDWIN J. TORRES/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
“Wear your mask. Wash your hands frequently. Social distance. Use common sense,” Gov. Phil Murphy said at a Thursday afternoon press briefing in Trenton. “These are the things we need to do now just as much as we did in the spring. They crushed the curve once and can do it again, but only if we all make that commitment.”
The state’s positivity rate among COVID-19 tests as of Nov. 1 was 7.7%, though the rate of transmission – or how quickly the virus spreads – has stayed relatively unchanged for weeks. On Thursday, Murphy reported that it was 1.26.
On Thursday, the state also reported 1,224 total hospitalizations—a level not seen since the start of June and roughly triple what those levels were at the start of the summer. On Sept. 23, the state saw 423 total hospitalizations.
Total hospitalizations have remained at over 1,000 for more than a week straight. According to state health data, 648 of those hospitalizations were in the eight counties that the state classifies as North Jersey, while the rest were split between Central and South Jersey.
During the outbreak’s peak in April, New Jersey saw more than 4,300 new cases a day, and over 6,000 total COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Hotspots are centered around Newark, Atlantic City and Elizabeth, as well as Monmouth, Rowan and Rutgers universities. According to Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, the positivity rate in Newark was 12.3%.
To that end, the state has deployed so-called “hotspot teams” to those communities, Persichilli said. Those entail ramped up testing capacity and contact tracing efforts, as well as any other social services local residents might need, all to bolster the response by local health officials.
But as surges hit more of the state – three counties marked more than 200 cases and five counties over 100 cases – the state will need to “augment” the work of the hotspot teams “with some broader steps,” the governor said. “It’s not either/or.”
To combat the spread in Newark, city officials instituted curfews on when businesses like restaurants and bars can stay open. Cities like Paterson and Hoboken have enacted similar restrictions.
With indoor gatherings driving many of the spikes, Murphy had remained on the fence about reinstituting restrictions. Few if any masks are worn at such gatherings, and attendees are not adhering to 6-foot physical distancing, the governor said. Outbreaks, Persichilli added, are more “likely related to routine gatherings such as your homes.”
Health officials across the nation “expect the situation to get worse as the weather gets colder and more people gather inside,” Persichilli added.
