What you should know
- New Jersey’s largest city implemented a new mask-wearing mandate on the same day that state infections hit an 11-month high for the fifth day in a row.
- On Monday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka signed an executive order requiring the use of masks indoors in all public facilities, effective immediately.
- The new term could be the first of many more steps to curb the spread of the virus, the mayor warned, if the city’s positivity rate surpasses 15% in a 3-day period. As of December 14, the 3-day average was just shy of 12%.
—
NEW JERSEY – New Jersey’s largest city implemented a new mask-wearing mandate on the same day that state infections hit an 11-month high for the fifth day in a row.
On Monday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka signed an executive order requiring the use of masks indoors in all public facilities, effective immediately. Establishments that serve food and drink should require the use of masks when customers are not actively eating or drinking, the ad said.
“We are still in the middle of a pandemic and we must take the necessary steps to safeguard and better ensure the health, safety and well-being of our residents,” said Mayor Baraka.
The new term could be the first of many more steps to curb the spread of the virus, the mayor warned, if the city’s positivity rate surpasses 15% in a 3-day period. As of December 14, the 3-day average was just shy of 12%.
New Jersey reported more than 6,000 daily infections for the fifth day in a row, holding the number of positive cases to an 11-month high and the state poised to break its record for most cases in a single day.
In an effort to arm its residents amid the new wave of the Omicron variant, New Jersey partnered with a new testing provider to offer free at-home test kits to be shipped by mail.
The state health department is working with Vault Medical Services to submit COVID-19 saliva tests. All residents are eligible to request that a test be submitted for next-day delivery, and results are promised within 48 hours of receiving tests in a lab.
“With cases on the rise and meetings and travel during [la época navideña]You have to protect yourself, especially if you don’t feel well or think you may have been exposed, even if you don’t have any symptoms, ”said Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli.
Governor Phil Murphy has emphasized in recent reports the need for increased vaccines and booster shots to shore up defenses against the surge in positives. In his final COVID report for the year on Monday, he shared that the number of New Jerseyans who completed their vaccination series increased to 6.2 million, or 73% of the eligible population.
The number of daily infections reported on Monday dropped slightly, to 6,505, a couple of dozen less than the second-highest total reported the previous day.
Hospitalizations are also increasing, 15% in a week to the levels last recorded in April.
On the last day for which data was available, the state said about one in eight COVID tests statewide tested positive, again, back to April levels.
“This pandemic … will get worse before it gets better,” Murphy said. “My fear is that we will go back to capacity limits one way or another.”
The CDC has said that the highly contagious and rapidly spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 it is being detected in New York and New Jersey at a rate 4 times higher than in the rest of the country.
– .
