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©istock.com/Halfpoint - The CDC is recommending masking for nine counties in New Jersey that have “high” levels of COVID. New Jersey has continued to see increases in transmission just as President Biden marked 1 million known COVID-19 deaths. The nine counties that are recommended for indoor masking are: Sussex, Morris, Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Cape May, Burlington, Camden and Gloucester. The CDC asks people to mask up when indoors in public when community levels are high, to stay up to date on vaccines and to get tested if you have symptoms.
Other areas of NJ have “medium” community levels of COVID including: Passaic, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Warren, Hunterdon, Union, Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer and Salem. Cumberland County is currently in the low category.
These masking recommendations are not mandated. People may choose to wear masks no matter where they are.
Over the past week, NJ had 5,309 new confirmed cases. According to the New Jersey Department of Health, the state had 727 hospital patients with confirmed or suspected COVID infections as of Thursday. The COVID hospitalization figure has more than doubled since the end of March. The US has the highest death toll from the virus in the world and in New Jersey, 30,477 people have died of COVID.
President Biden has asked Congress to pass additional COVID funding as new variants emerge.
