Covid Cases Climbing In Bergen County

NEW JERSEY, NJ — If you've been hearing about more of your acquaintances becoming afflicted with covid in the last few months, you're not alone.

Covid cases are on the rise in 44 states, says the federal government, and cases are likewise rising in Bergen County. Medical professionals say that those who get long covid, with extended symptoms, face a tough road.

The good news is, fewer than 200 people are currently hospitalized with the virus in New Jersey.

Local Numbers

Bergen County currently has the highest number of cases of covid in the state. It was also the site of the first covid death in New Jersey in 2020.

According to the state, 707 cases were confirmed in Bergen County from June 1 to July 1, 2024. This is up from the month before, when 468 cases were confirmed. However, not all patients report their cases to their doctors.

Statewide, 165 people are currently hospitalized with COVID. Nineteen of those are in intensive care and seven are on ventilators to help them breathe, says the state's Department of Health.

At the height of the pandemic there were more than 2,000 people in New Jersey battling the virus in hospitals, and even by summer 2021, 1,167 were in hospitals with 128 on ventilators.

People are taking precautions and getting vaccinated, lessening the severity and spread of the virus, experts say, and doctors now know better how to treat it.

There are still patients dying of covid, statistics show, currently at a rate of 300 per week. That number is the lowest since the virus began, medical professionals say.

But during the winter, deaths were higher nationally. There were ten times as many covid deaths as flu deaths, statistics say.

What are the current guidelines? Read the latest on covid here.