Hoboken Coronavirus Death Toll Increases By 3

HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken's death toll from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic has climbed by three, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla said in a message on Saturday. Bhalla said the Hoboken Health Department was notified only recently of two residents who passed away last month due to the virus, and one back in December.

One of the residents was a woman in her early fifties, Bhalla said. One was a male in his early 70s, and one was a woman in her early 90s. "Our hearts are with the family members of all three residents during this very difficult time," he said.

This brings the death toll in Hoboken due to the virus to 46.

Hoboken now has reported a total of 3,894 known, confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic, Bhalla said. See the previous week's update here.

Hospital trends

Hoboken University Medical Center is currently treating 19 patients who have COVID-19, which includes five Hoboken residents, Bhalla said.

Back in July, after months of precautions and lockdowns, the hospital had announced that it had zero coronavirus patients.

As of this past week, the Hoboken Health Department reported the following new COVID-19 cases, a total of 188 reported over seven days:

March 6: 21
March 7: 23
March 8: 32
March 9: 33
March 10: 19
March 11: 23
March 12: 37

$27 million in stimulus for Hoboken

Bhalla also announced that Hoboken will get $27 million over two years to help the city's recovery and to aid small businesses hurt by the pandemic. The money comes from the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, also known as the American Rescue Plan.

Bhalla said, "My administration is currently working on determining the best uses of funds on our recovery efforts, and I will keep residents informed as developments unfold." Read more: See What Each NJ Town Is Getting From COVID Relief Law

Hoboken vaccine update

Bhalla said that as of Monday, the city has a new link for eligible residents to sign up for a vaccine: http://www.hobokennj.gov/vaccinesignup

To find links and help in getting a vaccine in other parts of Hudson County, read Patch's updated local Hudson Count vaccine site list from Friday.

Here is the link to see the updated list of people currently eligible for a vaccine in New Jersey.

The mayor also gave these updates on how vaccination is going:

• Bhalla said, "Governor Murphy’s office reiterated that municipalities like Hoboken should receive an increased supply in early April, with the state receiving greater shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. I greatly appreciate Riverside Medical Group for again providing 150 doses this Sunday, working from our pre-registration lists."
• Riverside has begun vaccinating local teachers, who are now eligible.
• As of Friday, the Hoboken Health Department has administered 4,135 total vaccine doses to residents, which includes 2,784 first doses and 1,351 second doses.
• A total of 113 guests and staff from the Hoboken homeless shelter were vaccinated during the week with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, thanks to the Alliance Medical Group.

Read more of the mayor's messages and find out about coronavirus testing locations here.

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New Jersey highs and lows

• As of Wednesday, the state reported 56 new deaths in 24 hours, as well as 1,961 current hospitalizations, 408 of those in critical care, 58 percent of those on ventilators, and 6 new cases of a variant "of concern," including one of the South African variant.
• The cumulative state death toll is 21,294.
• The daily fatality rate still has not dropped to the level of Sept. 7, when there were a total of only two coronavirus fatalities reported statewide.
• New Jersey's peak daily death toll on April 30, 2020 was 460 fatalities reported in one day. The number then steadily dropped until late summer, when cases began rising again.
• As of Monday, 535,000 Americans had died of the virus. (You can see which states had the highest death toll in the past week on this CDC map.)

Here are statewide coronavirus resources:

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222

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