Full Notification

Below is an update from Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla on COVID-19:
 
The Hoboken Health Department reports the following, new COVID-19 cases:
 
February 5: 14
February 6: 18
February 7: 38
February 8: 18
February 9: 20
February 10: 18
February 11: 30
 
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 2,989 known, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hoboken, along with 39 COVID-19 related fatalities. Hoboken University Medical Center is currently treating 15 patients with COVID-19, which includes three Hoboken residents.
 
Update on vaccines
 
Some positive news this week – the Hoboken Health Department and Carepoint staff began administering second dose vaccines to our seniors this week who received their first dose back in mid-January. This is an important milestone in our vaccination process, and we will continue with additional second-dose vaccines next week in addition to administering more first-dose vaccine shots to 1A and 1B populations as well.
 
We are currently scheduling appointments for next week for the remainder of 500 second dose vaccines we have on hand, in addition to approximately 100 new weekly first-dose vaccines. At the start of the vaccination process, we were fortunate to receive 500 first-dose vaccines per week from the State; however now are receiving 100 per week after setting aside the 500 second-doses. As before, we are still hoping the State will increase our supply and allow us to expand our vaccine operations in the weeks to come. We have the ability to provide many more vaccines than the 1,700 first-doses we have administered to date at Carepoint, and know that when the State increases their supply from the federal government, we will receive more as well. I thank the Governor and his team for continuing to keep us updated on this front.
 
To the 1,600 residents with high-risk medical conditions and 1,400 seniors who have signed-up but have not yet received an appointment – know that we continue to work as fast as possible with the vaccines we are provided. We will contact you for an appointment as soon as we can and our supply allows. I greatly appreciate everyone’s patience as we wait for our supply to increase.
 
Certain locations have been provided much greater supply than we have here in Hoboken, which includes Hudson County’s site in Kearny as well the State’s six mega-sites. As of Monday, an additional 700 Hoboken residents have been vaccinated through the County’s vaccine site in Kearny.
 
If you qualify in either the 1A or 1B phase and have not yet gotten an appointment, please consider signing-up through either Hudson County or the State of New Jersey if you are able to travel:
 
Hudson County: https://hudsoncovidvax.org/
 
State of New Jersey: https://covid19.nj.gov/pages/vaccine
 
Greater protection from COVID-19 with double-masking
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently came out with research indicating that double-masking helps reduce the spread of COVID-19 by up to 95%.  The CDC research demonstrates that wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask offers substantially more protection than a single mask. Additionally, tying knots of a surgical mask around the ear creates a tighter fit around the face, and also adds greater protection.
 
As always, wearing a mask is significantly safer than wearing no mask at all. Bottom line – please wear a mask (or two) when outside the household.
 
Supporting local restaurants with a new cap on third party delivery fees
 
As was announced earlier this week, we’ve adopted new regulations placing a cap on the amount third party applications and websites can charge our small businesses for food delivery fees. It’s important to support our small businesses during these difficult times, and this is one way we’re stepping up and lending a helping hand. Read more about the new ordinance here: https://www.hobokennj.gov/news/hoboken-adopts-legislation-to-support-businesses-cap-third-party-food-delivery-fees.
 
Despite this ordinance, one of the best ways you can help when ordering takeout is by placing orders over the phone directly from restaurants, or on their own website if the business has one. This method bypasses any third party fee and allows restaurants to keep as much revenue as possible.
 
I’ve received some questions about why we did not enact this ordinance earlier. Soon after the City Council considered the City’s own ordinance in May, Governor Murphy enacted state-wide legislation establishing a cap on third party applications and websites, that took precedent over any local laws. When the State’s law expired on December 31, it became necessary to adopt our own ordinance, which we did by largely replicating Jersey City’s successful law establishing a delivery fee cap in January. Thank you to the City Council and sponsors of this ordinance (Councilmembers Jen Giattino, Emily Jabbour and Mike DeFusco) for their partnership on this new regulation.
 
General population vaccines timeline
 
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government is predicting April as the time frame when the general population could begin to be vaccinated, with a greater vaccine supply anticipated in the coming months. He estimated that the general population vaccination process would take several more months, with herd immunity possible by the end of the summer. President Joe Biden indicated yesterday that the United States will have enough vaccines for 300 million Americans by the end of July.
 
Super Bowl gatherings and getting tested
 
If last weekend you made the decision to get together with multiple households to watch the Super Bowl, I encourage you to get tested as a precaution, even if you are not exhibiting symptoms. This is similar guidance we gave during the post-holiday season after extended family gatherings. If the gathering was on Sunday for the Super Bowl, you should wait until at least Friday to get tested, to ensure there has been at least five days after a potential exposure to minimize the chance of an inaccurate result. The safest option would be to continue to take precautions, and get tested early next week.  
 
3,000 COVID-19 testing appointments available in Hoboken per week
 
We are continuing to offer over 3,000 COVID-19 tests per week for Hoboken residents and business employees through our medical partners – Riverside Medical Group, Prompt MD, ivee and Medicine Man Pharmacy. For an updated schedule and appointment options, please visit the City’s dedicated testing page at http://www.hobokennj.gov/testing. Please note that Prompt MD will not be testing on Monday at 605 Jackson Street due to President’s Day.
 
45,000 COVID-19 tests administered through Hoboken’s partnership with medical providers
 
Through the end of January, the City has administered nearly 45,000 COVID-19 tests to residents and employees of businesses: 11,582 COVID-19 tests through Prompt MD (since August 10), 3,254 through Medicine Man (since November 22), and 2,334 through ivee (since December 1). From April through the end of November, 27,745 tests were provided through Riverside under the 14^th Street Viaduct.
 
Taking the necessary precautions to stay safe
 
New variants detected across the United States, including here in New Jersey, have the potential to spread quickly if necessary safety precautions aren’t taken in the short term. As before, these include wearing a mask (or two), social distancing, limiting indoor gatherings beyond household members, avoiding travel outside New Jersey, and getting tested.
 
Thank you Hoboken, please stay safe.
 
Sincerely,
 
Ravi S. Bhalla
Mayor