TRENTON, NJ – As New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy continues to tout his success in the COVID-19 battle, facts don’t back up the governors position any more than they can back up his science that has led New Jersey to become the most deadly state when it comes to contracting COVID-19.
New Jersey has had 207,977 reported cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic. 16,225 New Jersey residents died from the virus. In comparison, states like Texas, California, and Florida each have had over 700,00 reported cases and between 14,000 to 15,000 people died.
Once exposed, Californians have a 1.92% chance of dying from the virus. In Texas and Florida, the percentage of deaths among those infected has been 2%. Nationwide the death rate among infected COVID-19 patients ranges from 1% to 2%. In New Jersey the death rate is a staggering 7.8%. In New York, it is 6.7%. New Jersey leads the entire nation in deaths per capita with 1,827 deaths per 1 million residents. New York is second with 1,708 deaths per 1 million residents.
Despite being ranked 9th in the country in total case volume the decisions made by Governor Murphy in the early days of the crisis have led to the state being the COVID-19 death capital of America, with New York close behind in second place. This happened despite the Governor’s prolonged forced closure of businesses, restaurants and outdoor activities this past spring and summer.
A critical failure of the Murphy administration was when, on March 29th, New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichili ordered that nursing homes and extended care facilities could not refuse COVID-19 patients. What happened after that was an already overburdened and unprepared senior healthcare system was inundated with patients it could not properly care for. Over 10,000 senior citizens died because of that fateful decision made by the Murphy and Persichili.
Now, even as the New Jersey COVID-19 caseload has diminished and the “Curve” has been flattened since May, a new flareup in Ocean County has health officials statewide worried about the second wave of COVID-19. Although with enhanced treatments and better knowledge of how to treat the virus, this new round of patients are beating the virus. Live saving drugs such as hydroxychloroquine and convalescent plasma are no longer being withheld by the state government, so people are recovering quicker and fewer patients are being put on ventilators, according to state COVID-19 records posted daily.
While the first phase of COVID-19 was predominantly a senior-citizen healthcare tragedy, the new wave of COVID-19 in New Jersey is affecting younger people. Teens and young adults have accounted for many of the newest cases, with very few having anything more than mild cold and flu-like symptoms, but that can change. Health officials warn that a hospital spike could trail as long as two to three weeks behind the initial outbreak.
Testing volume has increased in Ocean County, especially among the Orthodox Jewish community where lines are now forming outside walk-in clinics in Jackson, Lakewood and Toms River as residents test to see whether or not they have been infected. A source within Ocean County’s government says over 1,000 have been infected in Lakewood in the past five days and numbers being released to the public are not reflective of actual numbers, due to a glitch in the state COVID-19 reporting system.
As for Murphy, the governor has blamed sports parties, house parties and family gatherings for the latest spike in Ocean and Monmouth County. The Governor is expected to visit Ocean County on Thursday to meet with county officials to discuss the recent surge in cases.