New Jersey reported on Monday another 3,511 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 23 additional deaths, as vaccination sites reported a large increase in consultations with the recent expansion of eligibility.
Governor Phil Murphy announced the latest figures on the social networks.
The state’s 9 million residents have already lost 20,458 residents in the COVID-19 pandemic – 18,367 confirmed deaths and 2,091 deaths considered likely, according to state data.
The transmission rate across the state it was 1.12 for a third consecutive day. A transmission rate above 1 indicates that the outbreak is expanding and the seven-day moving average was 5,148.
New Jersey recently expanded the vaccine’s eligibility to those 65 and older, residents with certain health conditions and smokers, creating an accumulation of consultations when the vaccines promised by the federal government did not materialize.
Four of the six coronavirus vaccine mega-sites have been opened in New Jersey to serve as vaccination centers.
The four open locations are Moorestown Mall in Burlington County, Rowan College of South Jersey in Gloucester County, the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Middlesex County and Rockaway Townsquare in Morris County. Two additional locations will be opened later in East Rutherford and Atlantic City.
Each location is offering the injection only to priority groups, including healthcare professionals, EMS teams, police and fire, people aged 65 and over, people with chronic illnesses and smokers. State officials said that each site will have the capacity to vaccinate thousands of people a week, but it currently does not because the federal government is not providing sufficient doses.
Many vaccination centers across the state do not show availability for scheduling due to supply not meeting demand. State officials said more appointments will be made available as New Jersey receives additional vaccines.
If you are eligible, you can apply directly with vaccine providers, which can be found on a list provided by the state Department of Health, said Donna Leusner, a spokeswoman for the department of health.
These locations include county and municipal locations, individual hospitals, pharmacies and ShopRite locations.
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VACCINATIONS
At least 348,414 doses of the vaccine were administered in New Jersey by Sunday, according to the state’s COVID-19 panel. Of these, 308,874 were the first of the two doses that people will receive, while 39,330 were the second.
New Jersey faced criticism for slower deployment than dozens of other states as it continues to deal with a second wave of the pandemic, according to data from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state has distributed the doses in phases. And while the authorities have greatly expanded eligibility for the vaccine last week, demand remains greater than supply, and residents are struggling to get few consultations. More than 4 million New Jersey residents are now eligible.
The authorities emphasize that the state depends on the federal government for its supply and is receiving only 100,000 doses a week, although New Jersey has a capacity of 470,000 a day.
Murphy on Saturday said the federal government did not provide the additional doses that were promised.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
There were 3,432 hospitalized patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey’s 71 hospitals on Sunday night, 313 fewer than the night before.
They included 632 in critical or intensive care (55 less than the night before), with 426 in ventilators (40 less).
305 patients with COVID-19 were discharged on Sunday, according to the state’s COVID-19 panel.
The governor said any hospitalization of more than 5,000 patients would likely trigger new rounds of restrictions.
However, state health commissioner Judith Persichilli said on Monday that officials are not currently concerned about an increase in the number of people who need to be hospitalized.
“The interesting thing is: our cases are increasing and our mortality is increasing, but our hospitalizations are not,” Persichilli told reporters before a public event in Old Bridge.
“Hospitalizations are becoming quite stable,” she said. “I think it is still affecting older people. Almost 60% of our deaths are from older people, so it may be more transmissible, more asymptomatic. More than 50% are now asymptomatic transmissions. Asymptomatic transmitters may be affecting older, vulnerable adults, and they end up in hospitals, and mortality is significant. ”
Hospitalizations on 1/13/21
SCHOOL CASES
There have been 111 outbreaks of coronavirus in schools in New Jersey, involving 557 students, teachers and staff since the beginning of the school year in late August, 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.
The number of school districts in New Jersey with totally remote education has increased with students returning from winter holidays, Murphy said on Monday.
There are 339 districts that started 2021 remotely – an increase from 18 remote districts as of December 21. Only 77 school districts are returning with full face-to-face instruction (versus 82 on December 21), and 348 are returning with a face-to-face or remote instruction hybrid (out of 362).
Another 47 districts are using some combination of face-to-face, hybrid or completely remote in several buildings – one more than on December 21.
AGE DISSOLUTION
Separated by age, those aged 30 to 49 constitute the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who caught the virus (31.2%), followed by those aged 50-64 (23.7%), 18-29 (19, 3%), 65-79 (11.1%), 5-17 (7.5%), 80 and older (5.4%) and 0-4 (1.6%).
On average, the virus was more deadly for older residents, especially those with pre-existing illnesses. Nearly half of the state’s COVID-19 deaths occurred among residents aged 80 and over (47%), followed by those aged 65-79 (33%), 50-64 (15.6%), 30-49 (4 %), 18-29 (0.4%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0%).
At least 7,644 of COVID-19 deaths in the state occurred among residents and staff members in nursing homes and other long-term care institutions. That number has risen again at a more pronounced rate in recent months, with deaths in asylum in the state nearly tripling in December.
There are currently active outbreaks in 426 facilities, resulting in 6,802 active cases among residents and 7,368 among employees.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
As of Monday morning, there were more than 95.17 million positive COVID-19 tests worldwide, according to a running count from Johns Hopkins University. More than 2 million people died of complications related to the coronavirus.
The USA reported the majority of cases, with more than 23.95 million, and the majority of deaths, with more than 397,600.
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Matt Arco can be contacted at [email protected].