NJ At 'High' Level For COVID Transmission, Latest CDC Data Shows

NEW JERSEY — As most of the country sees a summer COVID-19 surge, New Jersey has joined dozens of other states that show "high" or "very high" levels of the virus in communities' wastewater.

Health experts can use sewage samples to track the presence of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) as a data point to anticipate any spikes locally. Updated wastewater surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that New Jersey and 43 other states have either "high" or "very high" levels of COVID in water samples.

North Dakota and Arizona were not included in the latest report, as there were no sites in those states reporting data for the week ending on Aug. 31.

The lowest level reported among states is “moderate,” and no states reported “low” or “minimal” levels of viral activity in wastewater.

The Garden State was last at a "very high" level from the week of Dec. 9, 2023 through the week of Feb. 10 and has not been at the "high" level since early mid-February, CDC data shows.

Amid the nationwide uptick in cases, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for the latest mRNA vaccines, which have been reformulated to focus on a newer omicron variant known as KP.2, or FLiRT. The approval for this year's vaccine came a little earlier than in previous years, and the CDC has already recommended this fall’s shot for everyone age 6 months and older.

And though different omicron strains such as KP.3.1.1 have also been spreading (and may become more common in the fall and winter), health officials said the variants are closely-related enough for the 2024-25 COVID vaccines to ensure cross-protection.

The most prevalent strains of COVID-19 in New Jersey are Omicron subvariants LB.1 and KP.3.1.1, which make up 48.5 percent of sequenced test results, according to the latest Department of Health report.

Both of these subvariants are "relatives" of JN.1, according to Dr. Sandra Fryhofer of the American Medical Association.

"These new COVID vaccines have been updated to give you the best protection from JN.1-based variants, and these are the ones that are circulating now.," she said in an interview last week.

Although it appears illnesses associated with FLiRT aren’t as serious as those caused by other variants, some symptoms set it apart. They include:

• Sore throat
• Cough
• Fatigue
• Congestion
• Runny nose
• Fever or chills
• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Loss of sense of taste or smell
• Diarrhea

As of Aug. 31, a total of 483 New Jersey residents have died this year due to COVID-19, per the state Department of Health. More than half of these deaths (295) were people aged 80 and above.

In the past week, 9.7 percent of COVID tests have been positive in the Garden State, compared to 16.3 percent nationally. The latest state data shows that 2.5 percent of hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, and 1.7 percent of ICU beds.