Below is an update from Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla on COVID-19:
Update from Hoboken Health Department
The Hoboken Health Department has reported the following, new COVID-19 cases:
January 9: 17
January 10: 55
January 11: 18
January 12: 36
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 2,319 infections along with 39 total COVID-19 related deaths. As of Saturday, there have been 1,453 recoveries. Hoboken University Medical Center is currently treating 23 patients with COVID-19, which includes nine Hoboken residents.
It is abundantly clear that Hoboken is in the middle of a post-holiday surge in cases, and that infections are rising at an alarming rate. It is imperative to continue to take the virus seriously, which has been recently making its way to elderly and at-risk residents. Please, help us save lives by taking the following precautions:
- Wear a mask
- Social distance
- Avoid indoor gatherings beyond household members
- Avoid travel outside of New Jersey
- Get tested
Continuing to offer expanded COVID-19 testing
Given the upward trajectory of COVID-19 cases, we are continuing to offer over 3,000 COVID-19 testing appointments for residents and business owners this week and for the rest of the month. Unlike many other parts of the country, there are no long lines, it’s easy to sign-up, results are provided quickly, and those without insurance will not be charged for the cost of a test. Sign-up for an appointment by visiting
http://www.hobokennj.gov/testing. Thank you to our medical partners – Riverside Medical Group, Prompt MD, Medicine Man, ivee and the New Jersey Department of Health for working with us on expanded COVID-19 testing in Hoboken.
Contact tracing update
The Hoboken Health Department reports that many of the new cases stem from holiday gatherings and indoor social occasions with multiple households, as we had anticipated would occur. Additional cases stem from holiday travel outside of New Jersey to other states, as well as household contacts contracting the virus.
Vaccine update
As indicated in the announcement yesterday, we have launched an online pre-registration form for Hoboken seniors (65 years of age and up) to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through our medical partners, currently Riverside Medical group and Hoboken University Medical Center. Over 970 seniors have pre-registered since last night.
Seniors, or friends and family of seniors can pre-register by visiting
http://www.hobokennj.gov/seniors. Additionally, seniors can call 201-420-5621 (Monday – Friday, 9 am – 2 pm) beginning tomorrow to pre-register if internet access is not available.
I encourage all residents to reach out to neighbors or friends in Hoboken who may be elderly, and assist them in signing up on the pre-registration form, so we can begin scheduling appointments when the senior populations become eligible. We await guidance from the State on which populations and age groups will quality for the vaccine, however this will give us a head start on our scheduling.
Riverside Medical Group
I’m pleased to share that thanks to our partnership with Riverside Medical Group, over 350 healthcare and over 140 first responders were recently scheduled through our online sign-up form and received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. Riverside is scheduled to receive additional doses by the State next week.
We have arranged space for Riverside Medical Group to operate at the Multi-Service Center (124 Grand Street) to allow for greater vaccine distribution, which will become operational in the coming weeks. When this occurs, we will be sure to let the public know.
Hoboken University Medical Center
Some more good news – Hoboken received an additional 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine, which will be administered at Hoboken University Medical Center. My hope is that we will soon be able to provide these doses to groups such as teachers and seniors when the State determines that these groups are eligible.
Call with State Department of Health
I thank members of the New Jersey Department of Health and Governor Murphy’s office for getting on a call with my team yesterday to hear feedback from Hoboken on the vaccination process. The State and Governor’s office is doing everything possible to get vaccines in the hands of various counties and cities, however they are only able to allocate as many vaccines as they are able to obtain from the federal government, which is not occurring as fast as the State had hoped. Nonetheless, the State will be expanding vaccine distribution to various medical providers and pharmacies as soon as their allocation from the federal government expands.
The incoming Biden administration announced recently that instead of withholding second doses to allocate supply for those who received the first dose of the vaccine, that distribution will expand to states while manufacturers of the vaccine increase their production – a position that was largely adopted by the outgoing Trump administration yesterday. This should be good news and hopefully add to supplies of local medical providers and cities like Hoboken.
Properly disposing of PPE
We are unfortunately seeing an increase of litter attributed to personal protective equipment (PPE), including a large amount of face masks. As a friendly reminder, please dispose of any PPE appropriately in trash receptacles and help keep our community safe and clean.
Thank you Hoboken, please stay safe. Together, we'll get through this.
Sincerely,
Ravi S. Bhalla
Mayor
