New Jersey reported on Monday another 2,608 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 28 additional confirmed deaths, while 18% of adults have already been fully vaccinated in the state, although daily cases are increasing again.
“We are back in the leadership of the nation in spreading this virus,” said Governor Phil Murphy during his last COVID-19 meeting in Trenton, emphasizing that even those who have been vaccinated can still spread the virus. “We still have to work together.”
The governor added that the state is currently in a “walking race” between vaccinating more residents and increasing the number of cases.
Earlier in the day, Murphy said during a TV interview that the state is unlikely to take further steps to loosen security restrictions “for some time” because of recent spikes.
The Garden State’s seven-day average for new confirmed cases is now 3,349, an increase of 8% over the previous week and 24% over the previous month.
There were at least 1,992 coronavirus patients in New Jersey hospitals on Sunday night, according to state data. Hospitalizations have declined since mid-January, when more than 3,700 patients were being treated. The number now fluctuates between 1,900 and 2,000 for two weeks.
The authorities did not say specifically what is driving the increase in cases, although they did warn of the spread of more contagious variants of COVID-19.
The state has identified more than 400 cases of “worrying variants”, including 389 cases of the variant first identified in the UK, seven cases of two California variants, three of the Brazil variant and one South African variant. There are also 65 cases of the New York variant, which is considered “of interest” by the federal Centers for Disease Control.
Asked how the state is tracking the variants, state health commissioner Judith Persichilli said: “We cannot trust this virus to behave in a predictable way.”
“We are acting as if an outbreak is going on tomorrow,” added Persichilli.
New Jersey health facilities and vaccination centers have administered nearly 3.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine – including more than 1.2 million people considered fully vaccinated, according to state data. About 500,000 doses of the vaccine were administered last week, Murphy said.
The state’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of eligible adults – about 4.7 million people – by the end of May.
The statewide transmission rate increased on Monday to 1.09, from 1.08 the previous day. Any number above 1 indicates that the outbreak is growing, with each new case leading to at least one other case.
The latest statewide positivity rate was 8.48% on Thursday, the day with the most recent data, based on 45,099 tests.
In all, New Jersey has already registered 767,583 confirmed cases of coronavirus in more than 11.5 million CRP tests in the year since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There were also 101,454 positive antigen tests. These cases are considered likely, and health officials have warned that positive antigen tests can override confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes administered together.
The state of 9 million people reported that 24,181 residents died of complications related to COVID-19 – 21,666 confirmed deaths and 2,515 deaths considered probable.
On Friday, New Jersey increased the limits for indoor and outdoor meetings from 25 to 50 people and increased capacity limits for restaurants, gyms and health clubs, recreational facilities and department stores and personal care companies to 50%. But masking mandates and guidelines for social detachment will remain in effect.
Murphy said on Monday that he does not have “a specific deadline” to define how long it can take until he loosens restrictions further. He said that the state is in “a time of equilibrium”, as the authorities observe the variants, but with the continued vaccination and the warmer climate approaching.
“It is not easy to achieve this balance,” said the governor. “So, we’re taking care.”
Murphy said officials have not seen recent spikes in cases linked to reopenings.
Officials say demand for vaccines still outstrips supply in New Jersey, but shipments are expected to increase early next month. Other essential workers in the state, including restaurant workers, will be eligible for the vaccine on March 29.
Murphy said the state is likely to comply with President Joe Biden’s request that everyone in the United States be eligible by May 1. But he added: “I cannot give a specific date” for when this will happen.
Murphy also announced on Monday that the June primary elections would be held in person this year.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live Map Tracker | Newsletter | Home page
VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY
- ATLANTIC COUNTY – 115,327 doses administered
- BERGEN COUNTY – 404,326 doses administered
- BURLINGTON COUNTY – 188,675 doses administered
- CAMDEN COUNTY – 215,464 doses administered
- CAPE MAY COUNTY – 51,019 doses administered
- CUMBERLAND COUNTY – 50,102 doses administered
- ESSEX COUNTY – 268,939 doses administered
- GLOUCESTER COUNTY – 134,059 doses administered
- HUDSON COUNTY – 176,284 doses administered
- HUNTERDON COUNTY – 48,902 doses administered
- MERCER COUNTY – 127,765 doses administered
- MIDDLESEX COUNTY – 288,580 doses administered
- MONMOUTH COUNTY – 267,059 doses administered
- MORRIS COUNTY – 262,095 doses administered
- OCEAN COUNTY – 218,705 doses administered
- PASSAICO COUNTY – 156,462 doses administered
- SALEM COUNTY – 24,061 doses administered
- SOMERSET COUNTY – 142,965 doses administered
- SUSSEX COUNTY – 55,140 doses administered
- UNION COUNTY – 183,886 doses administered
- WARREN COUNTY – 35,690 doses administered
- UNKNOWN COUNTY – 3,700 doses administered
- OUT OF STATE – 91,106 doses administered
HOSPITALIZATIONS
There were 1,992 hospitalized patients with confirmed cases (1,873) or suspected COVID-19 in New Jersey’s 71 hospitals on Sunday night – three fewer than the night before, according to the state panel.
This included 428 in critical or intensive care, with 207 in ventilators.
There were also 190 patients with COVID-19 were discharged on Sunday and 207 were hospitalized.
Hospitalizations peaked in more than 8,000 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April.
SCHOOL CASES
New Jersey reported 188 outbreaks of coronavirus in schools, which resulted in 890 cases among students, teachers and school staff this school year, according to the state panel.
The state defines school outbreaks as cases in which contact trackers determined that two or more students or school staff captured or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at the school. These figures do not include students or staff believed to have been infected outside the school or cases that cannot be confirmed as outbreaks within the school.
There are about 1.4 million public school students and teachers across the state, although teaching methods in the midst of the outbreak have varied, with some schools teaching in person, some using a hybrid format and others remaining entirely remote.
Murphy called on Wednesday for more New Jersey schools to return to face-to-face education. He also said that officials are “fully expecting” that schools in New Jersey will return to personal learning “safely and responsibly” when the next school year begins in September.
AGE DISSOLUTION
Separated by age, those 30 to 49 years old constitute the highest percentage of New Jersey residents who caught the virus (30.9%), followed by those 50-64 (23%), 18-29 (19.7%) , 65 -79 (10.7%), 5-17 (8.9%), 80 and older (4.8%) and 0-4 (1.8%).
On average, the virus was more deadly for older residents, especially those with pre-existing illnesses. Almost half of COVID-19 deaths in the state occurred among residents aged 80 and over (47.07%), followed by those 65-79 (32.79%), 50-64 (15.68%), 30- 49 (4.05%), 18-29 (0.37%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.02%).
At least 7,972 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths occurred among residents and staff members in nursing homes and other long-term care institutions.
There are active outbreaks in 240 facilities, resulting in 4,275 active cases among residents and 4,855 among employees.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
Since early Monday afternoon, there have been 123 million positive COVID-19 tests worldwide, according to a count running by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.7 million people died of coronavirus-related complications.
The United States reported the majority of cases, 29.8 million, and the majority of deaths, more than 542,300.
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Brent Johnson can be contacted at [email protected].