New Jersey on Saturday reported another 3,411 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 47 additional deaths related to the virus, while about 961,000 people have already received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and about 336,000 have been fully vaccinated.
The Garden State seven-day average for new confirmed positive cases is now 3,253, up 4.5% from the previous week, but down 42% from the previous month.
The number of coronavirus patients in New Jersey hospitals fell for the ninth consecutive day, dropping to 2,514 on Friday night. This represents an 11% drop from the previous week and 34% from the recent peak of 3,802 on December 23.
The statewide transmission rate reported on Saturday was 0.84, down from 0.81 the previous day. This is the first time since February 2nd that the rate has risen after falling continuously over the past 11 days. Any number below 1 indicates that the state’s outbreak is decreasing.
The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted on Tuesday, the most recent day available, was 7.27% based on 54,206 tests.
Governor Phil Murphy announced the update on the social networks while he remains quarantined after an undisclosed member of his family tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. Murphy said the test was negative on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the governor announced on Friday that a limited number of parents in New Jersey will be allowed to watch their children play boarding school and youth sports again, after months of being banned from the stands. The new rules limit participants to up to two parents or guardians for games and indoor games. But the total number of spectators cannot exceed 35% of the room’s capacity or 150 people in total.
Officials also announced on Friday that New Jersey registered five new cases of the highly contagious coronavirus variant first discovered in the UK, bringing the state total to 38.
New Jersey has reported 663,416 positive cases of coronavirus in more than 9.9 million CRP tests in more than 11 months since the outbreak began in the state. There were also 80,403 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 also reported that 22,440 residents died of complications related to COVID-19 in that period – 20,194 confirmed fatalities and 2,246 considered likely.
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There were 1,298,028 doses of vaccine administered in New Jersey as of Saturday, Murphy announced. Of these, 961,449 were the first of the two doses that people will receive, while 336,002 were the second.
That is more than 1.77 million doses the state has received from the federal government, according to a count by the Federal Centers for Disease Control.
COUNTY BY COUNTY CASES (ranked by most new ones)
- Bergen County: 64,453 confirmed cases (377 new), 2,276 confirmed deaths (277 likely)
- Essex County: 63,729 confirmed cases (342 new), 2,340 confirmed deaths (261 likely)
- Middlesex County: 63,962 confirmed cases (340 new), 1,803 confirmed deaths (222 likely)
- Hudson County: 59,990 confirmed cases (325 new), 1,765 confirmed deaths (177 likely)
- Ocean County: 48,714 confirmed cases (315 new), 1,648 confirmed deaths (111 probable)
- Monmouth County: 48,131 confirmed cases (283 new), 1,227 confirmed deaths (114 likely)
- Passaic County: 49,890 confirmed cases (233 new), 1,474 confirmed deaths (167 probable)
- Union County: 46,682 confirmed cases (217 new), 1,523 confirmed deaths (192 probable)
- Morris County: 30,021 confirmed cases (185 new), 874 confirmed deaths (222 likely)
- Burlington County: 29,538 confirmed cases (126 new), 663 confirmed deaths (52 likely)
- Camden County: 37,895 confirmed cases (117 new), 1,017 confirmed deaths (74 probable)
- Somerset County: 17,520 confirmed cases (101 new), 670 confirmed deaths (99 probable)
- Mercer County: 24,975 confirmed cases (95 new), 809 confirmed deaths (39 probable)
- Atlantic County: 18,621 confirmed cases (78 new), 503 confirmed deaths (25 probable)
- Gloucester County: 20,123 confirmed cases (72 new), 493 confirmed deaths (24 probable)
- Sussex County: 7,449 confirmed cases (48 new), 206 confirmed deaths (61 probable)
- Hunterdon County: 5,842 confirmed cases (46 new), 101 confirmed deaths (54 likely)
- Cumberland County: 11,498 confirmed cases (42 new), 316 confirmed deaths (20 probable)
- Warren County: 5,915 confirmed cases (31 new), 191 confirmed deaths (18 likely)
- Cape May County: 3,465 confirmed cases (15 new), 150 confirmed deaths (25 likely)
- Salem County: 4,060 confirmed cases (10 new), 145 confirmed deaths (12 probable)
VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY
- ATLANTIC COUNTY – 40,254 doses administered
- BERGEN COUNTY – 146,058 doses administered
- BURLINGTON COUNTY – 65,960 doses administered
- CAMDEN COUNTY – 75,397 doses administered
- CAPE MAY COUNTY – 18,877 doses administered
- CUMBERLAND COUNTY – 18,772 doses administered
- ESSEX COUNTY – 106,760 doses administered
- GLOUCESTER COUNTY – 45,439 doses administered
- HUDSON COUNTY – 59,472 doses administered
- HUNTERDON COUNTY – 17,633 doses administered
- MERCER COUNTY – 35,611 doses administered
- MIDDLESEX COUNTY – 97,765 doses administered
- MONMOUTH COUNTY – 98,110 doses administered
- MORRIS COUNTY – 93., 451 doses administered
- OCEAN COUNTY – 78,142 doses administered
- PASSAICO COUNTY – 60,588 doses administered
- SALEM COUNTY – 8,321 doses administered
- SOMERSET COUNTY – 49,967 doses administered
- SUSSEX COUNTY – 19,977 doses administered
- UNION COUNTY – 63,977 doses administered
- WARREN COUNTY – 12,424 doses administered
- UNKNOWN COUNTY – 42,301 doses administered
- OUT OF STATE – 42,772 doses administered
HOSPITALIZATIONS
There were 2,514 2,565 hospitalized patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 at 71 New Jersey hospitals on Friday night – 51 less than the night before.
This included 519 in critical or intensive care (six less than the night before), with 343 on ventilators (seven more).
There were also 295 patients with COVID-19 who were discharged on Friday, according to the state panel.
SCHOOL CASES
New Jersey reported 142 outbreaks of COVID-19 in schools, which resulted in 671 cases among students, teachers and school staff, according to the latest figures.
Outbreaks – defined as cases in which infection or transmission of the virus was confirmed in the classroom or during academic activities – were recorded in all 21 municipalities, according to the state panel.
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. Although the numbers continue to rise each week, Murphy said the school outbreak statistics remain below what state officials expected when schools reopened for face-to-face classes.
New Jersey defines school outbreaks as cases in which contact trackers determined that two or more students or school staff picked up or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school.
There are about 1.4 million students and teachers across the state, although teaching methods in the midst of the outbreak have varied, some are on-site, some are hybrid and others are completely remote.
AGE DISSOLUTION
Separated by age, those aged 30 to 49 constitute the highest percentage of New Jersey residents who caught the virus (31%), followed by those 50-64 (23.4%), 18-29 (19.4%) , 65 -79 (11%), 5-17 (8.2%), 80 and older (5.1%) and 0-4 (1.7%).
On average, the virus was more deadly for older residents, especially those with pre-existing illnesses. Almost half of deaths by COVID-19 in the state occurred among residents aged 80 and over (47.36%), followed by those 65-79 (32.7%), 50-64 (15.55%), 30- 49 (4.02%), 18-29 (0.36%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.02%).
At least 7,846 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths occurred among residents and staff members in nursing homes and other long-term care institutions.
There are currently active outbreaks in 339 facilities, resulting in 6,940 active cases among residents and 7,148 among employees.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
Early Saturday afternoon, there were more than 108.3 million positive COVID-19 tests worldwide, according to a running count from Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.38 million people died of coronavirus-related complications.
The USA reported the majority of cases, with more than 27.5 million, and the majority of deaths, with more than 481,300.
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Brent Johnson can be contacted at [email protected].