TRENTON, NJ – While the nearly year-long public lockdown in New Jersey in 2020 and 2021 under the order of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was intended to reduce the rate of spread of the COVID-19 virus, it brought about a spike in sexually transmitted diseases.
Murphy’s extended lockdown has been criticized for an increase in drug use, a decline in mental health, and educational loss. Now, it’s being blamed for a sharp rise in STDs in the Garden State.
The result was unpredictably predictable. There wasn’t much else for New Jerseyans to do during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Cases of Gonorrhea and Syphilis spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Reported STDs in the U.S. continued to increase during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 2.5 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis reported in 2021,” the NJ DOH said today.
Concerningly, rates of P&S syphilis increased 24% among reproductive-aged women from 2019 to 2020, resulting in increases in congenital syphilis. In 2020, there were 2,148 congenital syphilis cases, an increase of 15% since 2019. During 2020 to 2021, rates of P&S syphilis increased 52% among reproductive-aged women and the number of congenital syphilis cases increased 32%. Increases in congenital syphilis, including increases in congenital syphilis-related deaths, are a stark reminder of the need to prevent the worst outcomes related to STDs.