COVID In Essex County: Numbers, Tests, And Trends This Week

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — While COVID hospitalizations statewide declined from last week, New Jersey patients are on ventilators at close to the same rate.

(Haven't gotten your four free tests from the U.S. government yet? Click: https://special.usps.com/testkits)

As of Friday, Jan. 21, the state's 71 hospitals reported that they were treating 4,826 COVID positive patients, down from the 5,835 and 5,621 reported the last two Fridays. Of the patients currently in hospitals, 511 are getting breathing help from a ventilator. Previous week's numbers were 524 and 419.

For comparison, back in September, 124 people were on ventilators in New Jersey hospitals.

Essex County Totals And Trends

In Essex County on Friday, Jan. 21, the COVID death toll was 3,058, up 73 from the previous week.

Total hospitalizations in Essex County since the start of the pandemic are now 11,097 cumulatively, meaning another 186 people were hospitalized with COVID in the county since the previous Friday. (The total then was 10,911 cumulatively).

In New Jersey as of Friday, three hospital emergency rooms are on "divert status" due either to patient volume or staff being out sick, down from four at the end of last week.

While pharmacies, government clinics, doctor's offices, the state, and Essex County have offered places to get a free test or a vaccine, demand has increased since before the new year.

But there are new ways to get or find a test.

Essex County continues to hold free COVID-19 testing at its vaccine centers in Livingston, Newark and West Orange. The centers are open to any person who lives, works or goes to school in the county. Learn more or register for a vaccination/test here.

Also, the state has opened a new statewide testing center in East Orange.

New State Website

New Jersey health officials have launched a website where people can search for COVID-19 testing facilities near them or across the state. Users are advised to double check the accuracy of the hours, and eligibility, by calling the site before heading over. Go to the site here.

Tests are available to anyone in New Jersey; insurance isn’t needed.

In addition, the New Jersey Department of Health and Vault Medical Services have partnered to offer a an at-home COVID-19 saliva test kit that is available to every New Jerseyan who thinks they need a test. However, tests have run out some days because of demand. Learn more here. To order the kit, click here.

According to the state website:

The state says: You can find a list of free public testing locations in New Jersey by county at https://t.co/bQkjIBA6hu, with additional sites to be added.
— NJDOH (@NJDeptofHealth) December 21, 2021

U.S. Death Toll: 863,000

Medical professionals say that breakthrough COVID-19 cases caused by the new omicron variant — infections among the vaccinated — are less common among people who have received their third vaccination shot, and that for vaccinated people who do get the virus, symptoms are often less severe. But public health officials are concerned that hospitalizations are increasing nationwide, and staff are out sick, as well.

In America, more than, 863,000 people have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic. The daily death rate is highest right now in these states.

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This article originally appeared on the Livingston Patch