A jury found Byad Lockett and Darryl Watson guilty in the Sept. 2021 Essex County jail attack against then 21-year-old Jayshawn Boyd, prosecutors announced Wednesday. The jury found Lockett and Watson guilty of attempted murder, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

The third inmate, Isaad Jackson, was only found guilty of the final charge. Prosecutors said the jury was hung on the attempted murder and assault charges.

The vicious beatdown was caught on video, many of the images too disturbing too watch. In it, the three men stomp on Boyd, hit him with a mop handle, douse him with bleach, throw a water cooler and then a microwave at his head. According to Essex County officials, a total of seven inmates were involved in the attack.

“The victim was unconscious after sustaining serious head shots during the seven-on-one assault. Lockett, Watson, and Jackson then returned to the defenseless body of Boyd and struck him in the head multiple times with industrial-sized items,” Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab said.

The sentencing for the three men is set for September.

That Boyd can walk at all shows his incredible will to survive — no one thought he could live after the beating in the C-Pod at the Essex County jail. Boyd, whose family says suffers from schizophrenia, had never been put in general population before the day of the beating.

“The way they beat my son, I couldn’t even watch the video,” Nacolia Boyd, Jayshawn’s mother, said. “My son Is not the same. He can’t do things on his own anymore. He can’t go to the store—can’t dress himself-it’s hard for me. You don’t have the life you did before.”

The Boyd family is now suing the county and correction officials. Attorney Brooke Barnett says the duration of the beating with no intervention by jail guards was unacceptable.

”He’s placed in the jail—in less than 10 minutes, this is what’s happening,” Barnett said. “And nobody came to his aid.”

The seven-on-one attack went on for two minutes and 23 seconds, according to Barnett.

Union officials said the sole officer on duty in that unit had not been academy trained. According to prosecutors, he left for his safety and called for backup. A year and a half later, officers without academy training are still being put into units at a ratio of one to every 64 inmates.

County officials insist they have implemented safety and security changes since the assault on Boyd.

“We are employing national standards and we are employing best practices,” ECCR Director Donald Charles said.

But according to internal documents obtained by the News 4 I-Team, there have been a total of 17 inmate-on-inmate or inmate-on-staff incidents since March. Officer Jeffrey Matos was stabbed and beaten by a group of inmates on May 17.

“They don’t care about our safety. I’ve never seen the jail this dangerous in my life,” Matos said.

Barnett, who represents several inmate families, agrees.

“You talk about Rikers, Essex County Jail, they’re worse than Rikers,” she said.

Boyd, his family says, will need a lifetime of care.

“They should have been on a job protecting these inmates. Just because you’re in jail, doesn’t mean you have to be treated like an animal. And it shouldn’t have happened to my son. No one should have gone through that,” his mother said.

One defendant has already pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, while three others have yet to be tried.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said a jury sat for a six-week trial and deliberated just three hours before finding James Ray III guilty for the murder of Angela Bledsoe in 2018.

The Montclair man fled the state after shooting Bledsoe to death on Oct. 23 inside the home they shared together. Authorities say the 44-year-old mother had returned home from dropping off their daughter at school when he shot her multiple times.

Police responded to the home for a wellness check and found Bledsoe dead, and Ray already in the wind. Prosecutors say the man dropped off their 6-year-old with a brother before fleeing southwest and crossing into Mexico. He then boarded a flight to Cuba.

Within two weeks Ray was captured by authorities and extradited to Essex County where he’s been held since.

Bledsoe, prosecutors say, had been planning to move out of the couple’s shared home before she was murdered. She had even scheduled a meeting with a realtor.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens thanked Bledsoe’s family.

“I’ve never seen a family as engaged with a trial as they were, and having them in the courtroom every day encouraged us to carry out our mission, which is to serve justice,” he said. “And on this day, justice was served.”

Ray, now 60, has a sentencing hearing in June where he faces the possibility of life in prison.

A jury found a Newark man guilty of stalking and murdering his ex-girlfriend, and mother of his children, and then trying to get rid of her remains by placing them in garbage bags filled with chemicals, according to the local prosecutor’s office.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II announced Wednesday Gualberto Lebron, 37, was convicted on 21 of 24 counts including aggravated murder, burglary, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, witness tampering, desecrating human remains, conspiracy, and three counts of endangering the welfare of children in connection to the horrific murder of Julia Vega in 2018.

According to Stephens, the charges Lebron faces stem from the spring of 2018 when a history of domestic violence led to a May 5, 2018, strangulation and sexual assault by Lebron against Vega in her Newark apartment while the children were there. Vega escaped the attack, but was chased outside by Lebron, where he continued attempting to attack her until neighbors stepped in to intervene. Lebron subsequently fled before police could arrive at the scene and remained a fugitive for days.

The prosecutor’s office goes on to say that it was after this incident that Lebron increased his stalking and threats against his ex-girlfriend, threatening to kill her if she didn’t drop the charges against him.

Days later, on May 9, 2018, while the children were at school, Vega went home to walk her dogs during her lunch break from her job at a local daycare, Lebron followed her, broke into her apartment and killed her, Stephens said.

Lebron subsequently cleaned the apartment, carried her body out in a rolled-up rug, and loaded it into Vega’s minivan, before driving away with her body, according to Stephens, who also said Vega was reported missing that same evening.

Lebron was a fugitive for the next several days, allegedly concealing her body as he searched for a location to dispose of her. Lebron’s brother allegedly stepped in to help and between the two stored her body inside heavy-duty trash bags filled with chemicals and sealed with tape.

The bags with Vega’s remains were discovered behind an abandoned house in Irvington nearly a month later. According to Stephens, Vega’s remains were found with a rose stem tucked under her arm and she was still wearing a rubber bracelet from the Essex County Domestic Violence Response Team.

Lebron’s brother was also found guilty of desecrating human remains and hindering prosecution.

Assistant Prosecutor Adam B. Wells, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor Monica Calderon, said what Lebron did to Vega and her children was “without exaggeration – monstrous.”

“But the entire community including her friends, neighbors, and family, along with tireless, dedicated members of law enforcement, came together to get justice for her,” added Wells. “The jury was attentive and diligent throughout a long and disturbing trial, and returned a verdict that will provide some measure of justice and closure for Julia Vega and her children.”

Lebron faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, while his brother faces up to 10 years in prison for his conviction. Sentencing is scheduled for April 3.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline for local resources. For assistance 24/7, call 800-799-7233 or text “START” to 88788.

Newark Fire Captain Carlos Rivera was discovered unresponsive the morning of Jan. 15 inside the firehouse on Park 15, county prosecutors said. A second man, a retired firefighter, was found unconscious alongside the captain.

Both were transported to University Hospital, where the captain was pronounced dead.

Eliasel Biaz, 42, was arrested and charged with distribution and causing a drug-induced death. Attorney information for the Kearny man was not immediately known.

“Essex County leads the state in drug overdoses. Given those numbers, it is important we fully investigate these cases and charge the perpetrators with strict liability homicide when appropriate,’’ Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said.

Personnel from the state Attorney General’s office and the Essex County Prosecutor were seen gathering evidence inside the Irvington Police Internal Affairs Bureau. In the weeks since, state and county law enforcement agents have offered no explanation for their probe into Irvington’s police activities, except for a short press release from Theodore Stephens, the Acting Essex County Prosecutor.

In the statement, Stephens announced his office “has taken over the day-to-day operations of the Internal Affairs unit of the Irvington Police Department.”

It’s not clear what necessitated the takeover. But the I-Team has learned that, long before the county stepped in, Irvington cops had been complaining of a toxic and retaliatory work environment within the police department.

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In recent years, at least five Irvington police officers filed complaints alleging they were targets of bogus departmental charges, threats, or retaliatory actions ordered by police brass.

Tanisha Little is one of the Irvington cops who claims she was targeted with administrative discipline — not because of her interactions with the public, but because the Township’s top cop doesn’t like her. In 2020, Little filed a lawsuit against Police Director Tracy Bowers, accusing him of punishing her with unfavorable shifts because she previously turned down his romantic advances.

“Once it rose to a level where she reported it in writing, that’s when the retaliation hit,” said Kara MacKenzie, one of Little’s attorneys. “Right now we’re at close to 50 separate disciplinary charges against her, all of which seek her termination.”

Sgt. Jamal Calloway, who leads the union representing Irvington police supervisors, also filed a lawsuit alleging he was the target of retaliatory disciplinary. Calloway declined to speak about his lawsuit specifically, but accused Director Bowers of presiding over an Internal Affairs unit bent on settling scores between officers – rather than protecting the department’s integrity.

“It’s just been a constant barrage of retaliation and spitefulness and going against the law and going against Attorney General guidelines that govern how internal affairs and how police departments are supposed to be run in the state of New Jersey,” Calloway said.

Bowers did not answer questions from the I-Team, but in court filings he has denied the allegations from Officer Little and Sgt. Calloway.

According to data published by Irvington, the police force has seen a dramatic spike in the number of Internal Affairs complaints made by cops against cops. In 2018, there were just 5 complaints generated by police personnel. By 2021, internal affairs complaints originating with police staff to 118. In that same time period misconduct complaints from Irvington citizens decreased from 64 to 24.

The lawsuits filed by Little and Calloway list Police Director Bowers as a defendant along with Maurice Gattison, a retired Irvington cop and rapper, who may be best known for a scandal involving one of his music videos that featured an anti-gay slur. Pension records show Gattison retired from the Irvington force in 2020, but he was re-hired to a position called “Special Law Enforcement Officer III (SLEO III).” Though SLEO III officers were intended under state law to provide security in schools, Bowers testified in a public hearing that Gattison functioned as his assistant.

Despite his classification as a school safety officer, Calloway says Gattison’s primary function was to punish police officers not favored by Bowers.

“He was subsequently the right hand of the Director,” Calloway said. “He would watch cameras, facilitate and write officers up or get them written up for frivolous nonsensical things.”

When visited at his home, Gattison declined comment except to point out that he had no official authority over the Irvington Internal Affairs unit.

“I don’t control Internal Affairs. I’m a civilian,” he said.

Anthony Iacullo, Gattison’s attorney, said his client has cooperated fully with authorities concerning his employment with the Township of Irvington.

“He has done nothing improper nor illegal during his tenure with the Irvington Police Department,” Iacullo said.

But Jack Arseneault, one of the attorneys representing Tanisha Little, said it could be a crime to use a police department’s official disciplinary process to retaliate against officers who make good faith complaints about workplace harassment or unethical conduct.

“The Internal Affairs Unit was weaponized,” Arseneault said. “I believe there should be charges brought for this abuse of authority that did harm to not only Tanisha but to the entire department.”

On June 22, 2022 — the same day state and county investigators executed search warrants on the Irvington Internal Affairs headquarters — a police memo circulated announcing Gattison and two other officers classified as SLEO III would resign. The following week, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office issued a memo ordering that “Public Safety Director Tracy Bowers is NOT permitted to receive, review, nor have access to any reports/documents or be personally involved in any aspect of departmental disciplinary process.”

Mayor Tony Vauss (D–Irvington) did not respond to an I-Team inquiry asking whether he had continued confidence in Director Bowers.

“Please be advised that the Irvington Township Department of Public Safety / Police Division is and will continue to cooperate with the Office of the Attorney General and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office,” said Musa Malik, the Township Business Administrator.

Jeremy Arrington was sentenced Friday, more than five years after he entered a Newark home and fatally stabbed 8-year-old Aerial Little Whitehurst, 11-year-old Al-Jahon Whitehurst and 23-year-old Syasia McBorroughs.

The judge presiding over the case said Arrington created “a house of horrors,” resulting in one of the worst murder cases in Essex County history. Judge Ronald Wigler handed down three life sentences (75 years) for each of the murders, and an additional 150 years for other counts including attempted murder.

Investigators said Arrington went to the Hedden Terrace home on Nov. 5 after one of the stabbing victims posted on social media that police were looking for him in a sex crime, sending the man into a fit of rage. He entered the home in the middle of the afternoon and tied up seven people inside, torturing them with kitchen knives, prosecutors argued.

A young girl able to escape and call for police from her phone helped save the remaining victims. The 29-year-old mother of the dead children and two 13-year-olds, a girl and a boy, survived the attack.

Prosecutors say Arrington fled the scene of the bloodbath after the attack. He was taken into custody the next day after law enforcement found him barricaded in a home on Pomona Avenue, authorities said.

A 10-day trial concluded with convictions on 28 counts, including murder, attempted murder, burglary, criminal restraint, and more. Twenty-five witnesses took the stand during the trial.

“We are forever grateful to the courageous survivors and witnesses who testified as well as the investigative personnel who helped bring this defendant to justice. Hopefully this verdict will bring some form of justice to all of the families and friends affected by this defendant’s horrific actions,” Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Justice Edwab said.

Arrington will be eligible for parole after serving 281 years. He apologized to family members of the victims and one of the survivors, who spoke in court Friday.

Khalil Wheeler Weaver is charged with the murder of Mawa Doumbia, 15, of Newark. Prosecutors say she was last seen by her family the evening of Oct. 7, 2016. The decomposed remains of a strangled girl were found in a house in Orange in 2019, and were identified as Doumbia in late 2021.

Essex County prosecutors allege Wheeler Weaver solicited the girl online for sex, then killed her.

Last October, he was sentenced to 160 years in prison for the murders of 20-year-old Sarah Butler, 33-year-old Joanne Brown and 19-year-old Robin West in 2016.

Butler was a sophomore at New Jersey City University who had been reported missing in November 2016. The Montclair woman’s body was found eight days later on the Eagle Rock Reservation.

Brown had last been seen in October of that year; her body was found in a vacant house in Newark a few months later. West was living in Union Township around the time, and was reported missing as well.

Wheeler Weaver was also accused of attacking another 34-year-old woman who survived the attack, prosecutors say.

Ultimately, he was convicted of murder, desecrating human remains, kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated arson.

Wheeler Weaver comes from a family that includes at least two law enforcement officers — one a cop in East Orange who, at the time of his arrest, lived in his home and another who worked for the Newark Police Department.

Jeremy Arrington was convicted of the triple murder in 2016 that claimed the lives of 8-year-old Aerial Little Whitehurst, 11-year-old Al-Jahon Whitehurst and 23-year-old Syasia McBorroughs, a college student who had been visiting the family. 

Investigators said Arrington went to the Hedden Terrace home on Nov. 5 after one of the stabbing victims posted on social media that police were looking for him in a sex crime, and flew into a fit of rage. He entered the home in the middle of the afternoon and tied up everyone inside, torturing them with kitchen knives, prosecutors said.

A young girl able to escape and call for police from her phone helped save the remaining victims. The 29-year-old mother of the dead children and two 13-year-olds, a girl and a boy, survived the attack.

Prosecutors say Arrington fled the scene of the bloodbath after the attack. He was taken into custody the next day after law enforcement found him barricaded in a home on Pomona Avenue, authorities said.

A 10-day trial concluded with convictions on 28 counts, including murder, attempted murder, burglary, criminal restraint, and more. Twenty-five witnesses took the stand during the trial.

“We are forever grateful to the courageous survivors and witnesses who testified as well as the investigative personnel who helped bring this defendant to justice. Hopefully this verdict will bring some form of justice to all of the families and friends affected by this defendant’s horrific actions,” Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Justice Edwab said.

Arrington faces multiple life sentences. He’s schedule to go before Judge Ronald Wigler for sentencing on April 8.

Prosecutors in Essex County said hikers walking the trail on Friday discovered a man’s body on the West Orange and Montclair border.

Officials had not identified the body as of Saturday morning, but believed the man died from a shooting. It wasn’t clear if that shooting occurred on the trail or if his body was dumped there.

The prosecutor’s office is pleading that anyone with information about the mysterious death contact authorities.

The Essex County jury convicted James Pilotti of kidnapping, aggravated assault, weapons charges and strangulation, prosecutors announced Friday.

At trial, prosecutors alleged Pilotti kidnapped his victim on Aug. 15, 2019, just four days after his release from prison for a sentence of breaking into that same victim’s house the year prior.

The Union City man bound his victim with cords and duct tape and beat him into the early morning before he managed to escape. Prosecutors said Pilotti used a brick and lamp to beat him, using multiple means of torture over a six-hour period.

Pilotti, 43, was still on probation at the time. He also had a “prior sexual relationship” with the victim.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said the jury remained deadlocked on the charge of attempted murder.

“We are pleased the jury returned a just verdict in this case. Hopefully, the resolution of this case will provide the victim with a sense of safety and justice,” said Assistant Prosecutor Shafran.  

Pilotti faces life in prison and his sentencing is scheduled for April 27.

The acting prosecutor in Essex County confirmed the captain was found unresponsive Saturday morning at the firehouse on Park Avenue. A second man, a retired firefighter, was found unconscious alongside the captain.

Both were transported to University Hospital, where the captain was pronounced dead and the retired firefighter remains hospitalized. The sources said the retired firefighter’s condition is non-life-threatening.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said the preliminary investigation points to no signs of violence.

According to the law enforcement officials, the retired firefighter brought a controlled substance with him to the firehouse late Friday night. At shift change the next morning, a firefighter entered the captain’s office and found the two men inside, they said.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force, which includes Newark police detectives, is investigating the death.

Authorities in Essex County say first responders were notified on Dec. 30 about young Laniyah Bloodworth who was unresponsive in her home on Wallace Street in Orange. Officers transported the girl to University hospital and she was pronounced dead, prosecutors said.

Laniyah had “unexplained bruising on her body” but her cause of death has yet to be determined following an autopsy, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

The office announced Monday that 21-year-old Jamil Welch, the boyfriend of Laniya’s mother, has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

The investigation is ongoing and no other information was immediately available. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

The city’s Office of Emergency Management established a mask requirement in all public indoor spaces for anyone ages 2 and older, with the exception of when they’re actively eating or drinking. Mayor Ravi Bhalla says the new measure, which goes into effect on Wednesday at 6 a.m., will help protect Hoboken’s most vulnerable residents and ensure businesses can remain open during the winter months.

The executive order will be lifted when the state’s positivity rate reaches 5% for a one-week average or when the city’s daily positive cases fall below the weekly average as compared to the first week of November 2021, according to the announcement.

As of Monday, New Jersey’s 7-day positivity rate stood at 15-19.9%, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Hoboken Health Department reported over 611 residents have tested positive in the last seven days, a record high.

Mayor Bhalla himself also tested positive for COVID-19 on Christmas Day, he said, though the mayor who’s vaccinated and boosted only experienced mild symptoms.

“It goes to show that vaccines and boosters work. Protect your loved ones and get vaccinated and boosted if you haven’t already,” he said.

Within the last week, a number of other New Jersey cities also established indoor mask mandates. Montclair Township, the Village of South Orange and Newark, the state’s largest city, also require people to wear their masks in indoor public spaces.

The move came as coronavirus cases, accelerated by the easily transmissible omicron variant, across the state nearly tripled since the start of December.

The latest figures represent a 143% increase from the daily numbers reported four days earlier, on Dec. 21. New Jersey has broken daily case record for a fourth straight day after quickly catching up to the previous highs reported back in January of this year.

A spike in positive cases has been the result of one of the most contagious variants of COVID-19, prompting millions to run out in search of tests as the new highly infectious strain surged in the leadup to Christmas.

The number of positive cases is expected to be much higher with untold numbers of people using rapid tests that don’t get reported to state health departments.

Hospitals are so far holding up, but at least six in the central part of the state did have to go on “divert” status at various times earlier in the week. That number can change by the minute as resources are adjusted to meet demand, though.

New York state, meanwhile, smashed its single-day COVID record Friday for the seventh time in little more than a week at a staggering 44,431 new cases.

Statewide, hospitalizations are at the highest levels since early April, but still roughly half of what they were at the peak last December.

On Thursday, the most recent data available, hospitalizations hit 2,366, up 5% from the day before and more than double what they were three weeks previously.

Local governments across the state are scrambling to react. In Essex County, where daily positives have been nearly tripling every 48 hours this week, Newark, Montclair and South Orange have all re-imposed indoor mask mandates.

School districts are also struggling to keep up, with at least two -- Paterson and Maplewood-South Orange -- announcing they will come back to temporary virtual learning after the winter break.

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The CDC numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron's share of infections in only one week.

In much of the country, omicron's prevalence is even higher. It's responsible for an estimated 90 percent of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest, according to the CDC.

New Jersey's own genomic surveillance puts its omicron prevalence at more than 53%, the latest state data shows.

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This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

It was a much more meager increase — less than 200 new cases — than the one Gov. Phil Murphy reported Thursday, which marked a spike of nearly 60% in a day.

The stunning surge puts in stark relief just how quickly the omicron variant is spreading in the state and the region. New daily cases in the state are now only slightly behind new cases in New York City, with roughly the same population.

New York state, meanwhile, smashed its single-day COVID record Friday for the seventh time in little more than a week at a staggering 44,431 new cases.

Hospitals are so far holding up, but at least six in the central part of the state did have to go on “divert” status at various times earlier in the week. That number can change by the minute as resources are adjusted to meet demand, though.

Statewide, hospitalizations are at the highest levels since early April, but still roughly half of what they were at the peak last December.

On Thursday, the most recent data available, hospitalizations hit 2,366, up 5% from the day before and more than double what they were three weeks previously.

Local governments across the state are scrambling to react. In Essex County, where daily positives have been nearly tripling every 48 hours this week, Newark, Montclair and South Orange have all re-imposed indoor mask mandates.

School districts are also struggling to keep up, with at least two -- Paterson and Maplewood-South Orange -- announcing they will come back to temporary virtual learning after the winter break.

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The CDC numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron's share of infections in only one week.

In much of the country, omicron's prevalence is even higher. It's responsible for an estimated 90 percent of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest, according to the CDC.

New Jersey's own genomic surveillance puts its omicron prevalence at more than 53%, the latest state data shows.

More Coverage

Omicron Variant Dec 24, 2021

NY Shortens Isolation Time for Essential Workers as 44,431 New Cases Smash Single-Day Record

holidays Dec 24, 2021

Airlines Cancel Flights Due to COVID Staffing Shortages

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Prosecutors are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information in the murder of Newark’s Alexander Jones, whose body was found in the city’s Hebrew Cemetery on South 19th Street Dec. 8.

An autopsy found he died of blunt and sharp force trauma.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force, which includes Newark police detectives, is leading the homicide investigation and hoping for the public’s help in bringing Jones’ killer to justice.

Anyone with information can call the Essex County prosecutor’s tip line at 1-877-847-7432. Calls will be kept confidential.

The stunning surge puts in stark relief just how quickly the omicron variant is spreading in the state and the region. New daily cases in the state are now only slightly behind new cases in New York City, with roughly the same population.

Hospitals are so far holding up, but at least six in the central part of the state did have to go on “divert” status at various times on Tuesday. Statewide, hospitalizations are at the highest levels since April 2021, but still roughly half of what they were at the peak last December.

On Wednesday, hospitalizations hit 2,241, up 7% from the day before and double what they were three weeks previously.

Local governments across the state are scrambling to react. In Essex County, where daily positives have nearly tripled in the last 48 hours, Newark, Montclair and South Orange have all re-imposed indoor mask mandates.

School districts are also struggling to keep up, with at least two — Paterson and Maplewood-South Orange — announcing they will come back to temporary virtual learning after the winter break.

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The CDC numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week.

In much of the country, omicron’s prevalence is even higher. It’s responsible for an estimated 90 percent of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.

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The stunning surge puts in stark relief just how quickly the omicron variant is spreading in the state and the region. The old record, from mid-January, was nearly 3,000 cases lower than this new single-day mark.

Hospitals are so far holding up, but at least six in the central part of the state did have to go on “divert” status at various times on Tuesday. Statewide, hospitalizations are at the highest levels since April 2021, but still roughly half of what they were at the peak last December.

Meanwhile, as COVID-19 numbers in New Jersey continue to rise, another two cities in Essex County will implement a new mask order, and one of the state’s largest school districts says it will temporarily go all-virtual in early January.

Montclair Township and the Village of South Orange on Tuesday followed Newark, the state’s largest city, and moved to immediately require people to wear their masks in indoor public spaces. The move comes as coronavirus cases, accelerated by the easily transmissible omicron variant, across the state nearly tripled since the start of December.

Like the majority of the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified Essex County as an area with high community transmission, and the councilman who introduced Montclair’s mask mandate cited the need for more vaccination as the reason.

“The reason is because not everyone’s been boosted and there are still people who are not vaccinated. Right now we’re seeing crazy spread of the omicron variant across the country and the region,” said Council Member Peter Yacobellis.

Meanwhile, Montclair High School announced it is going to move to all virtual instruction on Wednesday and Thursday. All elementary and middle schools will be on an “abbreviated day schedule” on Wednesday, Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Ponds said, citing rising COVID cases.

In-person instruction is expected to resume Jan. 3, he said.

In South Orange, Mayor Sheena Collum announced the mask mandate via executive order late Tuesday night; she said on Facebook the “overwhelming majority” of cases were breakthrough infections.

The South Orange-Maplewood School District has already moved its high school and one of its two middle schools to all-virtual instruction.

And in Paterson, as cases spike, the school district is now planning for two weeks of all-virtual instruction in early January, following the upcoming winter break. It’s the state’s fourth-largest school district.

Omicron variant of COVID-19 in New Jersey

Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday reported 6,840 new positive PCR tests, just shy of the record set back in January. The total number of cases last week reached a weekly all-time high, according to the New York Times‘ data.

The Democrat has stressed in recent briefings the need to increase vaccinations and booster shots to shore up defenses against the surge in positive cases, but he is holding off on implementing a statewide mask mandate. Instead, the state is focusing on vaccination and testing.

Just over 70% of people age 12 and older are fully vaccinated in the county, according to the CDC. The total number of New Jerseyeans who have completed their vaccination series is around 6.2 million, or 73% of the eligible population.

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Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The CDC numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week.

In much of the country, omicron’s prevalence is even higher. It’s responsible for an estimated 90 percent of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.

Montclair Township and the Village of South Orange on Tuesday followed Newark, the state’s largest city, and moved to immediately require people to wear their masks in indoor public spaces. The move comes as coronavirus cases, accelerated by the easily transmissible omicron variant, across the state nearly tripled since the start of December.

Like the majority of the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified Essex County as an area with high community transmission, and the councilman who introduced Montclair’s mask mandate cited the need for more vaccination as the reason.

“The reason is because not everyone’s been boosted and there are still people who are not vaccinated. Right now we’re seeing crazy spread of the omicron variant across the country and the region,” said Council Member Peter Yacobellis.

Meanwhile, Montclair High School announced it is going to move to all virtual instruction on Wednesday and Thursday. All elementary and middle schools will be on an “abbreviated day schedule” on Wednesday, Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Ponds said, citing rising COVID cases.

In-person instruction is expected to resume Jan. 3, he said.

In South Orange, Mayor Sheena Collum announced the mask mandate via executive order late Tuesday night; she said on Facebook the “overwhelming majority” of cases were breakthrough infections.

The South Orange-Maplewood School District has already moved its high school and one of its two middle schools to all-virtual instruction.

Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday reported 6,840 new positive PCR tests, just shy of a record set back in January. The total number of cases last week reached a weekly all-time high, according to the New York Times‘ data.

The Democrat has stressed in recent briefings the need to increase vaccinations and booster shots to shore up defenses against the surge in positive cases, but he is holding off on implementing a statewide mask mandate. Instead, the state is focusing on vaccination and testing.

Just over 70% of people age 12 and older are fully vaccinated in the county, according to the CDC. The total number of New Jerseyeans who have completed their vaccination series is around 6.2 million, or 73% of the eligible population.

Omicron Variant: The Latest

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Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The CDC numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week.

In much of the country, omicron’s prevalence is even higher. It’s responsible for an estimated 90 percent of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.