NJ COVID Hospitalizations Hit 6K For First Time Since April 2020

NEW JERSEY — In some ways, things are starting to look more like the beginning of the pandemic. New Jersey surpassed 6,000 hospitalizations of patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 for the first time since April 2020.

The New Jersey Department of Health reported 6,075 COVID-19 patients as of Sunday, the state's highest mark since April 30, 2020. The state's publicly available data for COVID-19 hospitalizations go back to April 28, 2020, when the number peaked at 6,253.

The Garden State has seen a sharp increase in patients on ventilators, rising from 61 on Nov. 9 to 474 as of Sunday — New Jersey's largest number of people on ventilators since Jan. 4, 2021.

Of the COVID-19 patients hospitalized, 843 were in intensive care as of Sunday — the state's highest number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU since May 21, 2020.

Meanwhile, cases among hospital staff continue to increase. State officials reported 3,099 hospital staff testing positive for the virus from Tuesday to Sunday.

Strain On Hospitals

The influx of COVID-19 patients has put many New Jersey hospitals under further stress.

The ratio of COVID-19 hospitalizations to total beds provides insight into a hospital's strain. Anything above 10 percent is concerning, while figures more than 20 percent represent "extreme stress," according to a framework from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

ICU capacity provides another important indicator of hospital strain, according to the institute. When COVID-19 patients fill 30 percent of ICU beds, the data suggests it is "high stress." Sixty percent or more indicates "extreme stress."

Based on the those metrics, Warren, Sussex and Cumberland Counties fell into the "extreme stress" categories for the week of Dec. 24-30 — the most recent week of available data. In Warren County, 62.14 percent of ICU patients and 21.29 percent of hospital patients had confirmed or suspected COVID-19.

COVID-19 patients filled 27.92 percent of Cumberland County's inpatient beds and 20.16 percent of such beds in Sussex County.

Here was New Jersey's hospital data for each county from the week of Dec. 24-30, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

• Atlantic: COVID patients occupied 10.62 percent of hospital beds and 24.16 percent of ICU beds.
• Bergen: COVID patients occupied 13.62 percent of hospital beds and 8.13 percent of ICU beds.
• Burlington: COVID patients occupied 8.17 percent of hospital beds and 18.56 percent of ICU beds.
• Camden: COVID patients occupied 13.31 percent of hospital beds and 10.95 percent of ICU beds.
• Cape May: COVID patients occupied 18.82 percent of hospital beds. ICU data was not immediately available.
• Cumberland: COVID patients occupied 27.92 percent of hospital beds and 49.46 percent of ICU beds.
• Essex: COVID patients occupied 16.88 percent of hospital beds and 16.78 percent of ICU beds.
• Hudson: COVID patients occupied 14.04 percent of hospital beds and 24.44 percent of ICU beds.
• Hunterdon: COVID patients occupied 18.11 percent of hospital beds and 36.5 percent of ICU beds.
• Mercer: COVID patients occupied 19.72 percent of hospital beds and 27.45 percent of ICU beds.
• Middlesex: COVID patients occupied 13.04 percent of hospital beds and 17.38 percent of ICU beds.
• Monmouth: COVID patients occupied 16.18 percent of hospital beds and 27.26 percent of ICU beds.
• Morris: COVID patients occupied 8.72 percent of hospital beds and 15.09 percent of ICU beds.
• Ocean: COVID patients occupied 15.42 percent of hospital beds and 17.84 percent of ICU beds.
• Passaic: COVID patients occupied 14.39 percent of hospital beds and 15.19 percent of ICU beds.
• Salem: COVID patients occupied 10.12 percent of hospital beds. ICU data wasn't immediately available.
• Somerset: COVID patients occupied 13.93 percent of hospital beds and 20.22 percent of ICU beds.
• Sussex: COVID patients occupied 20.16 percent of hospital beds and 37.50 percent of ICU beds.
• Union: COVID patients occupied 20.16 percent of hospital beds and 12.53 percent of ICU beds.
• Warren: COVID patients occupied 21.29 percent of hospital beds and 62.14 percent of ICU beds.

COVID-19 patient data for Gloucester county hospitals was not immediately available. Check the University of Minnesota's COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project for data updates.

Need to find a COVID-19 test or vaccination site? Visit the New Jersey Department of Health's vaccine appointment finder and test site finder.

Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of the illness, some experience conditions known as long COVID or long-haul COVID, according to the CDC. Learn more about long COVID at the CDC's post-COVID conditions page.