New Jersey on Thursday reported another 3,830 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 31 additional confirmed deaths as the state prepares to increase capacity limits Friday for indoor businesses including restaurants and casinos.
Gov. Phil Murphy did not have any public events scheduled for Thursday and provided the latest updates on the outbreak on social media.
New Jersey health facilities and vaccine centers have administered about 2.15 million first doses and about 1.07 million second doses, according to state data. The state is currently including the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the first dose totals.
The state’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of its eligible adults — about 4.7 million people — by the end of May. So far, about 16% of New Jersey’s adult population has been fully vaccinated, though it takes two weeks from the final dose for full efficacy.
New Jersey’s seven-day average for new confirmed coronavirus cases is now 3,234, up 11% from a week ago and 17% from a month ago as the state continues to see an increase in cases and officials warn about the spread of more contagious variants of COVID-19. That’s the highest seven-day average since Feb. 13.
In all, New Jersey has now reported 754,817 confirmed coronavirus cases out of more than 11.4 million PCR tests in the year since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There have also been more than 98,532 positive antigen tests. Those cases are considered probable, and health officials have warned that positive antigen tests could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given in tandem.
There were 1,966 coronavirus patients across New Jersey’s hospitals as of Wednesday night, a fifth consecutive day of increases, according to state data. Hospitalizations have leveled off and hovered around 1,900 for the past 11 days after steady declines starting in mid-January, when more than 3,700 patients were being treated.
The statewide rate of transmission increased to 1.06, from 1.05 the previous day. Any number over 1 indicates that the outbreak is growing, with each new case leading to at least one other case. Officials warned Wednesday that the rate may creep up in coming days.
The state of 9 million people has reported 24,076 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19 — 21,561 confirmed deaths and 2,515 fatalities considered probable. The probable deaths, which are revised weekly, increased by 41 fatalities on Wednesday.
On Friday, the state will increase indoor and outdoor gathering limits from 25 to 50 people and increase capacity limits for restaurants, gyms and health clubs, recreational facilities and arcades, and personal care businesses to 50%. But mask mandates and social-distancing guidelines will remain in effect.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
VACCINE DOSES BY COUNTY
- ATLANTIC COUNTY - 105,435 doses administered
- BERGEN COUNTY - 371,199 doses administered
- BURLINGTON COUNTY - 170,941 doses administered
- CAMDEN COUNTY - 197,072 doses administered
- CAPE MAY COUNTY - 47,499 doses administered
- CUMBERLAND COUNTY - 45,256 doses administered
- ESSEX COUNTY - 251,024 doses administered
- GLOUCESTER COUNTY - 123,012 doses administered
- HUDSON COUNTY - 159,934 doses administered
- HUNTERDON COUNTY - 44,601 doses administered
- MERCER COUNTY - 115,778 doses administered
- MIDDLESEX COUNTY - 263,367 doses administered
- MONMOUTH COUNTY - 248,077 doses administered
- MORRIS COUNTY - 235,539 doses administered
- OCEAN COUNTY - 201,604 doses administered
- PASSAIC COUNTY - 145,372 doses administered
- SALEM COUNTY - 22,141 doses administered
- SOMERSET COUNTY - 130,445 doses administered
- SUSSEX COUNTY - 51,204 doses administered
- UNION COUNTY - 168,803 doses administered
- WARREN COUNTY - 33,812 doses administered
- UNKNOWN COUNTY - 8,320 doses administered
- OUT OF STATE - 84,035 doses administered
COUNTY-BY-COUNTY NUMBERS (sorted by most new cases)
- Bergen County: 75,020 confirmed cases (438 new), 2,394 confirmed deaths (288 probable)
- Hudson County: 68,314 confirmed cases (377 new), 1,875 confirmed deaths (197 probable)
- Essex County: 72,458 confirmed cases (362 new), 2,458 confirmed deaths (282 probable)
- Middlesex County: 72,637 confirmed cases (358 new), 1,929 confirmed deaths (242 probable)
- Monmouth County: 56,796 confirmed cases (323 new), 1,328 confirmed deaths (133 probable)
- Union County: 52,172 confirmed cases (293 new), 1,614 confirmed deaths (213 probable)
- Ocean County: 56,211 confirmed cases (253 new), 1,803 confirmed deaths (144 probable)
- Morris County: 35,525 confirmed cases (250 new), 921 confirmed deaths (238 probable)
- Passaic County: 55,440 confirmed cases (212 new), 1,564 confirmed deaths (189 probable)
- Camden County: 41,376 confirmed cases (145 new), 1,116 confirmed deaths (97 probable)
- Burlington County: 32,721 confirmed cases (123 new), 716 confirmed deaths (62 probable)
- Somerset County: 20,304 confirmed cases (117 new), 696 confirmed deaths (104 probable)
- Mercer County: 27,628 confirmed cases (103 new), 852 confirmed deaths (43 probable)
- Atlantic County: 21,079 confirmed cases (93 new), 564 confirmed deaths (32 probable)
- Gloucester County: 22,233 confirmed cases (90 new), 536 confirmed deaths (30 probable)
- Sussex County: 8,797 confirmed cases (86 new), 213 confirmed deaths (65 probable)
- Warren County: 7,012 confirmed cases (51 new), 199 confirmed deaths (25 probable)
- Hunterdon County: 6,953 confirmed cases (48 new), 112 confirmed deaths (54 probable)
- Cumberland County: 12,723 confirmed cases (37 new), 355 confirmed deaths (37 probable)
- Salem County: 4,461 confirmed cases (19 new), 155 confirmed deaths (12 probable)
- Cape May County: 3,928 confirmed cases (15 new), 161 confirmed deaths (28 probable)
HOSPITALIZATIONS
There were 1,966 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jersey’s hospitals as of Wednesday night — 30 more than the previous night, according to the state’s dashboard.
That included 423 in critical or intensive care (16 more than the previous night), with 235 on ventilators (two fewer).
There were also 239 COVID-19 patients discharged Wednesday.
Hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,000 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April.
SCHOOL CASES
New Jersey has reported 188 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 890 cases among students, teachers and school staff this academic year, according to the state’s dashboard.
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.
With teachers now eligible to get the vaccine, Murphy said on Monday that officials are “fully expecting” schools across New Jersey to return for in-person learning “safely and responsibly” when the next school year starts in September, if not sooner.
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 (23.1%), 18-29 (19.6%), 65-79 (10.7%), 5-17 (8.7%), 80 and older (4.9%) and 0-4 (1.8%).
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 (47.16%), followed by those 65-79 (32.77%), 50-64 (15.63%), 30-49 (4.05%), 18-29 (0.37%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.02%).
At least 7,959 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
There are active outbreaks at 244 facilities, resulting in 4,769 active cases among residents and 5,089 among staffers. Those numbers have slowed in recent weeks as vaccinations continue at these facilities.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
As of Thursday morning, there have been more than 121.3 million positive COVID-19 tests across the globe, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.68 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.
The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 29.6 million, and the most deaths, at more than 539,000.
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Matt Arco may be reached at [email protected].
