Wasn’t this supposed to be the year when we got past the pandemic?
The state of New Jersey reported Friday that 3,864 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 — a new high for 2021.
And, since the number comes from the status as of 10:30 p.m. Thursday night (Dec. 30), the state still has one more day to crack the 4,000 mark.
The state last topped 4,000 on May 12, 2019, when 4,135 were hospitalized from COVID-19 and the thought of a vaccine was wishful thinking.
Friday’s hospitalization number (3,864) is 7.2% higher than Thursday’s number (3,604) — but more than 73% higher than last Friday’s total (2,261).
Other key metrics continue to rise:
- People in intensive care: 589 — or 44 more than the day before (and the most since Jan. 24).
- People on ventilators: 271 — or four more than the day before (and the most since Feb. 23).
There were 31 lab-confirmed fatalities, but those did not necessarily occur in the past 24 hours.
The state also reported there were 28,512 new confirmed cases — but this number is widely believed to be inaccurate due to a shortage of tests or test results that are known to the state.
With that, here are the number of confirmed cases:
- Friday: 28,512
- Thursday: 27,975
- Wednesday: 20,483
- Tuesday: 11,889
- Monday: 8,831
- Sunday: 12,538
- Saturday: 16,626
- Friday: 15,482
- Thursday: 9,711
- Wednesday: 6,840
Here is the number of hospitalizations, which has been on a steady increase the past 10 days:
- Friday: 3,864
- Thursday: 3,604
- Wednesday: 3,273
- Tuesday: 2,979
- Monday: 2,654
- Sunday: 2,462
- Saturday: 2,375
- Friday: 2,241
- Thursday: 2,100
- Wednesday: 2,034
