New Jersey remains unprepared for the next public health emergency, according to a new state-commissioned report examining COVID-19's high death toll in the Garden State and urging officials to improve their emergency planning.

“I know New Jersey will be better off because of this review, and my administration looks forward to working with the legislature on its recommendations,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement on the report, which was prepared by law firm Montgomery McCracken and was released on Monday.

Murphy had said as early as April 2020 that New Jersey would commission an independent “postmortem” of his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The state finally launched the $9 million study in late 2022.

The report calls for state officials to address disparities among residents that led to uneven outcomes in COVID-19 mortality rates and economic losses as businesses shut down. It says there are straightforward measures officials can take, such as sufficiently funding and staffing the state health department and investing in public health infrastructure more consistently.

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