New Jersey on Sunday reported another 180 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and an additional six confirmed deaths, as the virus continues to ebb and the state continues to return to normalcy 15 months after the pandemic began.
Driving down the COVID-19 numbers is the rising count of vaccinated people in the Garden State. More than 4.35 million people who live, work, or study in the state have now been fully vaccinated at New Jersey sites. That includes about 93,000 out-of-state residents who were vaccinated in New Jersey. More than 168,000 New Jerseyans have been vaccinated in other states.
Still, the newly reported cases and deaths build on the staggering toll COVID-19 has taken on New Jersey. The state has now reported 26,280 deaths from complications related to COVID-19 — 23,601 confirmed and 2,678 considered probable. That’s the most deaths per capita among U.S. states.
New Jersey, one of the pandemic’s early hotspots in America, has now reported 888,927 cases out of more than 14.3 million tests since the state announced its first case on March 4, 2020.
The Murphy administration wants to have 70% of New Jersey’s 6.9 million adults vaccinated by the end of this month. About 57% of adult residents have been fully vaccinated so far. Children as young as 12 are eligible for vaccines; so far, more than 272,000 kids between ages 12 and 17 have been vaccinated in the state.
There were 461 COVID-19 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across New Jersey as of Saturday night. Hospitalizations continue to fall from the peak of the state’s second wave, when 3,873 patients were in hospitals on Dec. 22.
The statewide transmission rate held steady from Saturday at 0.69. Any number under 1 indicates that each new case is leading to less than one additional case.
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HOSPITALIZATIONS
There were 461 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jersey’s hospitals as of Saturday night — one fewer than the previous night, according to state data.
That included 106 in critical or intensive care, with 61 on ventilators.
There were 58 COVID-19 patients discharged Saturday
By comparison, hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,300 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020 and more than 3,800 during the second wave in December.
SCHOOL CASES
New Jersey has reported 281 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 1,263 cases among students, teachers and school staff this academic year, according to state data.
The state defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school. Those numbers do not include students or staff believed to have been infected outside school or cases that can’t be confirmed as in-school outbreaks.
There are about 1.4 million public school students and teachers across the state, though teaching methods amid the outbreak have varied, with some schools teaching in-person, some using a hybrid format and others remaining all-remote.
Murphy has said his executive order allowing for virtual schooling in New Jersey during the pandemic will not be renewed beyond this academic year, which will officially end the option for virtual learning in the fall.
But the governor said students will likely still be required to wear masks when the next academic year begins — though he since added that could change.
AGE BREAKDOWN
Broken down by age, those 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (30.9%), followed by those 50-64 (22.4%), 18-29 (19.9%), 65-79 (10%), 5-17 (10.1%), 80 and older (4.4%) and 0-4 (2.1%).
On average, the virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with preexisting conditions. Nearly half the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (45.5%), followed by those 65-79 (33.7%), 50-64 (16.3%), 30-49 (4.1%), 18-29 (0.4%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0%).
At least 8,056 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.
There are active outbreaks at 100 facilities, resulting in 953 active cases among residents and 1,425 among staffers. Those numbers have slowed as vaccinations continue at the facilities.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
As of early Saturday afternoon, there have been more than 173 million positive COVID-19 cases reported across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 3.7 million people have died from the coronavirus.
The U.S. has reported more cases than any other nation, at more than 33 million, and the most deaths, at more than 597,000.
More than 2 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally.
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Katie Kausch may be reached at [email protected]. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.