COVID Hospitalizations Climb In Hoboken And Statewide, Resident Passes Away

HOBOKEN, NJ — The city of Hoboken said Monday that a resident has died of COVID, the first such fatality confirmed since August.

In addition, Mayor Ravi Bhalla said Monday, Hoboken University Medical Center currently has 29 patients with COVID-19. This is up from eight people for each of the previous two weeks. READ MORE: Eight People Hospitalized With COVID In Hoboken, 7 Unvaccinated

The rise follows what's happening in the state, where more than 4,000 people are hospitalized battling covid, up 1,700 from just a week ago and the highest number in a year. Of those, 284 are on ventilators. There were 12 deaths from COVID reported yesterday.

Bhalla said the person who died was a man in his 60s. "I send my deepest condolences to his loved ones," he said.

Nine of the hospital patients are Hoboken residents, he said, five of whom are vaccinated and four who are not vaccinated. The city did not have information on the 20 patients from other towns.

Since the pandemic's onset, the city of Hoboken has had 7,814 confirmed cases of COVID and 27 deaths.

The mayor said 629 Hoboken residents were confirmed as testing positive from Dec. 25 through 31, up from 611 the week before. This would not include in-home tests that weren't reported. The numbers mean at least 1 of every 100 residents is positive.

The mayor said that the Hoboken Health Department warned that symptomatic individuals using at-home test kits have received false negative results.

"The individual will then retest after day 5 of experiencing symptoms, and their test is then positive," Bhalla said. "According to the Hoboken Health Department, individuals should remain cautious if they exhibit COVID-19 symptoms and receive a negative at home test."

He also noted:

• Individuals are encouraged to get tested 5 to 7 days after their holiday gatherings.
• Due to the significant increase in cases, contact tracing efforts will be focused on those under the age of 18, hospitalized cases, and individuals 65 years of age and older.

The Hoboken Health Department was notified of some delays with COVID-19 PCR test results over the past several days, the mayor said.

City workers are working remotely through Monday, and city schools are remote until Thursday for now, pending testing results.

Find Out Where To Get A Test Or Vaccine Here including links to Hoboken clinics.

In New Jersey, 13 hospital emergency rooms were on "divert status" Monday.

In America, more than, 823,000 people have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic. The daily death rate is highest right now in these states.

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