Hoboken School Mask Mandate: Superintendent Johnson To Give Update

HOBOKEN, NJ — [UPDATE: Masks will be optional in Hoboken K-12 schools as of March 7; see the story from Friday here.]

Hoboken Superintendent of Schools Christine Johnson said Thursday that she will "communicate a position with all families tomorrow" (Friday) regarding the mask mandate in the Hoboken public schools.

Not surprisingly, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's announcement on Monday that the state's mask mandate for schools will be lifted in March — leaving it up to individual districts to make a decision — has resulted in debates and strange behavior at school board meetings, including mask protestors ordering pizzas in the middle of a Westfield meeting this week.

As of now, New Jersey students will still have to mask up on school buses even after March 7.

In Hoboken, Johnson sent out a survey to parents early in the week asking whether they believe the mask mandate should be lifted, or continue through the rest of the school year. The form also asked for comments.

Around North Jersey, districts have given varied responses, but several, like Jersey City and Maplewood, said they want to keep an eye on the data before making a decision.

On one hand, children are less likely to get seriously ill with COVID than adults. On the other hand, the CDC has called children losing a parent to COVID a "hidden pandemic." Some parents and children have experienced long COVID, as one Hoboken mom shared last year.

The state of New Jersey is urging parents to talk to their own pediatrician about the right safety measures for their child.

Children under 5 cannot yet get vaccinated for the virus.

Hospitalizations And Ventilator Use

In New Jersey as of Thursday, the state's 71 hospitals said they were treating 1,708 patients for COVID, 212 of those requiring breathing help from ventilators. A week ago, on Friday, Feb. 4, the state's hospitals were treating 2,409 patients who tested positive for COVID. Of those patients, 294 were on ventilators.

Those numbers were nearly half of what was reported two weeks earlier. On Friday, Jan. 21, the state's 71 hospitals reported that they were treating 4,826 COVID positive patients. At the time, 511 patients were getting breathing help from a ventilator.

For comparison's sake, back in September 2021, 124 people were on ventilators in New Jersey hospitals.

In New Jersey in January, before case numbers started coming down, hospitals saw their highest rates of kids hospitalized with COVID since the pandemic began, officials said. Four New Jersey kids have died of COVID since Christmas.

In Hoboken

During the 2020-2021 school year, the Hoboken schools were able to remain open full-time with safety measures, while most districts were all remote or used a hybrid schedule.

As of this past Monday, 99 percent of Hoboken residents 30 and over, 97 percent of residents 12 and over, and 85 percent of residents overall, had gotten at least one dose of the vaccine.

See this week's Hoboken COVID case statistics here.

For a local COVID test or vaccine, go to www.hobokennj.gov/vaccine or www.hobokennj.gov/testing.

Sign up for a free 6 a.m. Patch email newsletter for Hoboken here. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Sign up for a daily 6 a.m. newsletter with news in Hoboken, or for breaking news alerts: https://patch.com/subscribe