TRENTON, NJ – Maybe it’s some sort of new common core medical math, but the daily numbers Governor Phil Murphy has been giving out during his daily COVID-19 briefings just doesn’t add up.
On Wednesday, Murphy said 873 people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 related illnesses or they are under investigation for COVID-19, but have yet to test positive for the virus.
Of those 873, 423 have tested positive for COVID-19.
873-423=450.
423 people identified by Governor Murphy who are hospitalized have tested positive according to his statement. 450 have not.
Of those 450, he said 250 are listed as persons under investigation, pending the return of test results.
450-250=200.
That leaves 200 people, more than 1/4 of his declared hospitalizations on Wednesday completely unaccounted for.
423+250=673
He goes on to say, of the 673 who are either positive or under suspicion of being positive (423+250), 151 are in either critical or intensive care. Of those 151, 77 are on ventilators. So, what are the other 200 people in the hospital for? This math has been going on like this day after day since the height of the pandemic. The numbers didn’t add up when they were larger and the definitely don’t add up now that they are smaller. Why are those 200 people added to the total daily hospital count if they have not tested positive and are not even under suspicion for being a positive case?
Here are Murphy’s raw numbers published Wednesday:
☑️873 patients in our hospital’s patients – 423 of whom have tested positive for #COVID19 and 250 who are listed as Persons Under Investigation pending the return of test results
☑️151 patients in either critical or intensive care
☑️77 ventilators in use