COVID, Flu Cases Rising In NJ After Holiday Surge

NEW JERSEY — The holidays brought a great deal of joy and laughter to families across New Jersey, but they also brought a surge in respiratory virus cases in the Garden State, according to state and federal health agencies.

"The amount of respiratory illness (fever plus cough or sore throat) causing people to seek health care is elevated or increasing across most areas of the country," as of Dec. 29, the Centers for Disease Control said.

Emergency department visits due to influenza and COVID-19 both have risen in New Jersey in the last three weeks, according to the state health department. Hospitalizations have risen as well, according to the CDC.

The rise in cases has prompted the two largest hospital networks in the state to require all patients, visitors and staff to wear masks during patient interactions. Hackensack Meridian began requiring masks for everyone as of Dec. 27, and RWJ Barnabas Health requires masks and is providing them rather than allowing visitors to use or bring their own. At hospitals in the Atlantic Health System, there are some restrictions on visitation in addition to a mask requirement.

The primary issue appears to be the flu. According to the weekly influenza activity report from the state Department of Health, for the week ending Dec. 30 the activity level is high statewide. The CDC characterized it as very high.

The health department said emergency room visits and visits to doctors and other outpatient providers "associated with influenza-like illness" are higher than they were for the same week in 2022. There have been 25 flu outbreaks in New Jersey this flu season, with 13 in the last three weeks.

Emergency room visits due to flu symptoms accounted for just under 10 percent of the ER visits in the week ending Dec. 30, and about 4 percent of the hospitalizations, according to the state Health Department.

There have been no confirmed influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported this season, state health officials said. The most common flu strain seen this season is Influenza A (H1N1)pdm09, health officials said.

COVID-19 cases have been rising but activity levels remain low to medium, state officials said. Hospitalizations were medium for 11 counties: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Salem, and Sussex. Medium means there are between 10 and less than 20 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents.

Fewer than 1,000 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in New Jersey through the week ending Dec. 23, according to the CDC.

Just under 10 percent of emergency room visits were due to COVID-19 symptoms in the week leading up to Christmas, with 3 percent of ER visits diagnosed as due to COVID-19, the latest state health department COVID-19 summary.

The primary variant diagnosed has been HV.1, at 31.7 percent of sequenced variants. A newer variant, JN.1, is being tracked by the CDC, but the spread of it "does not appear to pose additional risks to public health, the CDC said.

RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, has been declining in recent weeks, the CDC said.