Mask Mandate Update: Full List of New Jersey Hospitals With Restrictions

Seven hospitals in New Jersey have reintroduced a policy of requiring the wearing of face masks in their facilities, citing a rise in cases and hospitalizations in the state.

In the week to September 16, there were 441 new hospitalizations with coronavirus in New Jersey, a 2 percent decline on the week before, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show. At the same time, there were around 420 positive tests reported in the state, a rise of 0.9 percent from the previous week.

The seven hospitals that have brought in mask mandates for staff, patients and visitors are part of the Hackensack Meridian Health group. They are:

• Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune Township
• JKF University Medical Center in Edison
• Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen
• Ocean University Medical Center in Brick
• Old Bridge Medical Center
• Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank
• Southern Ocean Medical Center in Stafford

Carrier Clinic, a behavioral healthcare center in Belle Mead, specializing in psychiatric and addiction treatment, which is also run by Hackensack Meridian Health, has also reintroduced a mask mandate.

"This decision was made due to an increase in COVID-19 prevalence in these communities," the company said in a statement. "The health and safety of our team members and patients has always been and continues to be our number one priority."

It added that wearing a face mask was "strongly encouraged" but not required at its other healthcare facilities.

During the summer, some private institutions, hospital operators and colleges reintroduced requirements for staff and visitors to wear masks while at their sites to limit the spread of the new variants—EG.5 and BA.2.86. However, many of these mandates have been eased after cases appeared to plateau in early September.

A spokesperson for the CDC told Newsweek on Wednesday that its genomic surveillance indicated that the majority of infections were being caused "by strains closely related to the Omicron strains" circulating since early 2022.

Hospitalizations with COVID-19 had been rising since late June, before seemingly peaking at the start of September, but remain well below the highest recorded peak of over 150,600 patients in the week ending January 15, 2021. However, the CDC warned they could rise again as winter approaches.

Mask mandates in a broader setting have become a thorny political issue, pitting what some see as an infringement of their personal liberties against what health officials view as one of several measures that limit the spread of the virus among the general population.

There are differing opinions among the scientific community as to the efficacy of mask wearing, though many agree that when used in tandem with other measures—such as washing hands, social distancing and vaccination—they help stop the virus spreading.