NJ COVID Cases Soar To 3 Month High, Hospitalizations Trend Upward

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey reported its highest COVID case total in three months, as transmission and hospitalizations from the virus continue to trend upwards in the Garden State.

The New Jersey Department of Health reported 3,479 new cases Thursday. The state last tallied 3,000 daily infections on Feb. 3 — toward the end of the case-record-breaking omicron wave. Forty-eight people in the state have died from COVID in the past week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New Jersey's COVID hospitalizations remain low compared to past points of the pandemic but continue to increase. The state had 604 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID cases in hospitals Wednesday. There were 339 COVID patients in New Jersey hospitals at the end of March.

The state has a transmission rate of 1.2 as of Thursday afternoon. A transmission rate higher than one means that every new case leads to another new case, signifying a quickening spread of the virus.

Reported case totals provided by health officials don't include results from at-home test kits, which aren't reported to authorities. While the rise in at-home testing has made it easier for many to see if they're positive for the virus, public health experts believe it's contributed to an undercount of cases.

The latest increase in COVID cases follows a study revealing that even mild infections can significantly affect brain health. Long COVID — longterm health problems that can arise from COVID infections — can reduce brain size and gray matter, according to the report published in Nature. The virus can also damage tissue in areas linked to smell, taste and memory, according to the research.