NJ's Second Wave Hitting Northern Hospitals Hardest

COVID-19 hospitalizations in New Jersey are reaching levels not seen since May, and like the first wave of the pandemic, hospitals in the north are getting hit hardest.  

In early September one of the hardest hit hospitals in Newark celebrated a milestone: they finally had zero COVID-19 patients. But then, cases surged and so did the number of patients at University Hospital, the state's only public hospital. 

University CEO Dr. Shereef Elnahal said he still worries about having enough staff when cases peak. He's not sure New Jersey will receive the same help — traveling nurses, the US Army Reserve — that it did in the spring.

"The entire country may be requesting the limited group of heroes who helped us and so we're going to be competing with hospitals across the country for staffing," he said.

Elnahal said the quieter summer months helped the hospital stock up on supplies and this time, the staff is much better prepared to treat the disease.

State data show hospitals in North Jersey, which includes the state’s denser counties of Bergen, Essex and Hudson, have been hardest hit, with patient rates tripling since October. In the central and southern region, hospitalizations have doubled in the last month.