SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to trend downward in New Jersey, indicating the worst of the omicron surge is behind the Garden State. Now the governor is even thinking about dumping the school mask mandate.
Health officials say omicron accounted for more than 90% of the cases in the state this month. While the case totals and hospitalizations remain relatively high, they have been trending down significantly since an apparent peak around January 8.
This week, Gov. Phil Murphy said there's a real chance the school mask mandate will be lifted sometime before the end of the school year, though he didn't give any timeline or detail any metrics that would need to be reached for that to happen.
He has taken a cautiously optimistic stance overall moving forward.
“While it appears that the omicron tsunami is finally pulling back, we're in no position to say we're on dry ground," he said. "So we cannot look at a falling number and fall into complacency. Omicron inundated us once. We do not wish to see that happen again."
The governor also issued a mandate that all healthcare and long-term care facility workers must get vaccinated, and removed the testing option. The executive director of a nursing union told KYW Newsradio while they support the vaccination effort, the mandate goes too far. They said it might exacerbate staffing issues at places already struggling to fill all shifts.