New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is in Newark, New Jersey, to meet with the Newark Mayor during the gubernatorial election in Newark, New Jersey, November 2, 2021.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy reinstated a public health emergency Tuesday as hospitals struggle to keep up with an influx of patients as Covid cases soar amid an ongoing shortage of health-care workers.
The rise of the fast-spreading omicron variant is the reason for the latest surge.
Over the past two weeks, Murphy said the state has seen more than 10,000 residents requiring hospitalization due to Covid. Murphy was able to restore some emergency powers, including mask mandates in schools, after he declared a new state of emergency.
Murphy said that the renewed emergency declaration won't have an impact on the day-to-day lives of local residents.
He said that this does not mean anything. It doesn't mean new universal mandates or passports. It doesn't mean that you can't go outside. It doesn't mean any restrictions or limits.
Half of the hospital beds at Newark's University Hospital are filled with patients diagnosed with Covid-19, some of which were admitted for something else but tested positive afterwards, Dr. Shereef Elnahal said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday His biggest worry is not that.
Elnahal said that he was more worried about a health-care problem than a Covid-19 problem. Our workforce is demoralized right now. The spring of 2020 was when I was able to paint a light at the end of the tunnel.
He said the industry is losing talented clinicians between the ages of 45 and 60. He says that the problem may actually last longer than omicron, which seems to have already peaked in the New York metro area.
Elnahal said that almost 10% of his hospital's staff are out with Covid, pushing the hospital closer to a crisis staffing scenario with uncomfortable ratios of staff to patients.
Elnahal said he would like to see a clear definition of the end game when it comes to Covid-19.
He asked, "What case level will define the endemic case?" What does that mean for the rules on the healthcare system? How much capacity should we be creating? What is the guidance for health institutions that are going to be dealing with this epidemic?
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The University Hospital CEO is talking about the staffing crisis.
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