TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey’s COVID-19 infection rate, transmission rate, hospitalizations, ventilator use, death rate and all other COVID-19 indicators have dropped and flatlined since early June. Since the height of the pandemic, new hospitalizations dropped by 96%, COVID-19 hospitalizations have dropped by 89%, ICU patients dropped 92% and patients on ventilators dropped by 92%.
Still, Governor Murphy continues his pause on stage 2 reopening, negatively affecting tens of thousands of businesses. Murphy said he will not restart phase two until everyone wears face coverings, social distances and gets tested for COVID-19.
“Right now, we’re paused in Stage 2 of our restart,” Murphy said today. “I want us to be able to reopen more businesses and to get to Stage 3 and beyond. We cannot do that unless we keep up with wearing face coverings, keeping a social distance, and getting tested.”
“Our hospital metrics continue to move in the right direction, but this DOES NOT MEAN we can reopen everything right now,” he added. We just reported an additional 231 cases. We’re still in the Top 20 nationally in terms of the number of residents per capita in the hospital.”
Many of those patients have been in the hospital since the peak of the pandemic after Murphy and Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli demanded nursing homes accept COVID-19 positive residents.
Murphy said the state conducts 20,000 COVID-19 tests per day. Of those 20,000 there were 231 positives reported today. Just 1% of all people who take the test are now testing positive according to the Governor.
Initially, Governor Murphy’s science advisors told him in March that New Jersey needs to “Soften the Curve” a term not used any longer by the administration, now the metric is “Rate of Transmission” or how many other people get infected by each infected person. Right now, the rate of transmission in New Jersey is .91.
So for now, things will stay the same, and businesses that are in limbo will remain in limbo until they either go out of business, find a way to succeed under Murphy’s Law, or can withstand the prolonged torture being dished out by Murphy.
