New Jersey reported more than 5,000 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, but the actual number could be ten times higher than that, according to some experts who say the state’s case numbers are being undercounted. Instead of getting definitive PCR tests at clinics, more people are now relying on home antigen tests whose results usually don’t get reported to state officials for inclusion in statistics.
Many public health officials are turning to wastewater tests that check for viral genetic material. Columbia University monitors plants treating about half of what Bergen County flushes. And those numbers are trending upward. Perry Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers University School of Public Health, said, “I think people have lost sight of COVID-19 and are not keeping up with the science … It is my expectation that next fall, all of us will require an update to our vaccination.”
