TRENTON, N.J. (WCBS 880) — New Jersey has recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 related hospitalizations for the first time since May, Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday.
The governor made the announcement during an afternoon press conference, saying the state has not seen hospitalization figures such as this since May 11.
“We’ve come too far to go backward,” Murphy said. “Data shows the vaccines continue to be highly effective against hospitalization. Get vaccinated and let’s end this.”
According to data from New Jersey’s COVID-19 tracking website, 1,012 people were hospitalized for the virus as of Tuesday. A total of 92 of those patients were on ventilators and 192 were in intensive care.
The uptick is being blamed on the highly infectious delta variant, which has continued to spread rapidly throughout the United States over the last several weeks.
In fact, the delta variant – and its mutations – has accounted for more than 94% of all positive COVID-19 cases in the state during the last four weeks, according to New Jersey’s Department of Health.
Gov. Murphy and all state officials are continuing to urge all residents in the state to get vaccinated against the virus to protect themselves from hospitalization.
Data shows New Jersey is still leading the Tri-State area in COVID-19 immunizations, with nearly 73% of adults over the age of 18 fully vaccinated.
Gov. Murphy said the state had administered a total of 10,981,825 vaccine doses as of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.