COVID-19 Cases Rising: How Jefferson Health Is Affected

A total of 36 Jefferson Health employees tested positive for COVID-19 in the last month, even as New Jersey continues to report increases in hospital workers catching the virus.

The New Jersey Department of Health shares the number of staff cases at hospitals for the past 30 days. The breakdown of cases among staff in the Jefferson Health System by hospitals is as follows:

• Jefferson Washington Township: 16
• Jefferson Stratford: 10
• Jefferson Cherry Hill: 10

“Jefferson Health takes the health and safety of our community members and staff seriously," Jefferson Health said in a statement. "All of Jefferson NJ's approximately 5,000 employees are required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, or undergo weekly COVID testing. We cannot stress enough the importance of COVID vaccination in terms of preventing and lessening the effects of this virus. In recent weeks, we have seen a slight uptick in staff call-outs, likely due to community-acquired Omicron cases."

As COVID-19 cases spike through New Jersey, infections among hospital staff continue to increase. The state health department has reported at least 100 new cases per day among hospital employees since Wednesday.

In the past 30 days, 20.85 percent of cases among New Jersey hospital staff have come from workplace activity, while officials attributed the rest to community spread.

The New Jersey Hospital Association recently urged people not to delay medical care, including trips to the hospital.

The organization discovered a significant increase in deaths at home during 2020 — 95,715 overall, with COVID-19 listed as the primary cause for 16,548 people. Deaths at home never exceeded 76,000 in a single year from 2017-19, according to the New Jersey Hospital Association.

"It's impossible to know whether these excess deaths could have been prevented with timely access to hospital care," said Sean Hopkins, senior vice president of the NJHA's Center for Health Analytics, Research and Transformation. "But the trends are troubling, and they reinforce a critical message during a public health emergency: Please don't delay seeking the care you need."

The state health department reported 1,902 active hospitalizations among COVID-19 patients as of Sunday — New Jersey's highest total since April 23.