New Jersey health officials reported 5,967 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 94 additional deaths on Thursday, when the state expanded eligibility for vaccination to an additional 4 million people for the first time.
The state of 9 million residents has already lost 20,253 residents in the COVID-19 outbreak – 18,162 confirmed deaths and 2,091 considered likely. New Jersey has already announced 1,063 confirmed deaths this month, after 1,890 in December.
Governor Phil Murphy announced the latest update on Twitter. The next state coronavirus meeting is expected for Friday in Trenton.
The COVID-19 transmission rate across the state remained the same Thursday at 1.10. A transmission rate above 1 indicates that the outbreak is expanding.
The seven-day average for new confirmed cases is 5,630, slightly below the new high defined the day before, but 17% above the previous week and 13% from the previous month.
Hospitalizations across the state because of the virus declined on Thursday after three days of increases. Hospitalizations have remained well below more than 8,000 patients since the peak of the first wave in the spring, although health officials are concerned that a recent spike in cases is likely to be felt in hospitals next week and in February.
The positivity rate for tests administered on Saturday, the most recent day available, was 13.53% for 25,913 tests. The positivity rate has been at 10% or more since December 22.
New has now reported 549,840 confirmed cases in more than 8.4 million tests administered since authorities announced the state’s first case on March 4. There were also 59,881 positive rapid antigen tests, which the state began reporting publicly last week, although the state has warned that they may override confirmed PCR tests.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live Map Tracker | Newsletter | Home page
VACCINATIONS
New Jersey received 654,900 doses of coronavirus vaccines, according to numbers tracked by the CDC. State officials reported that 287,840 doses were administered – including 253,775 first doses and 33,898 second doses, according to the state’s COVID-19 panel. (There are some doses that have been registered without a dose number, resulting in incompatible totals.)
The state has faced criticism for implementing vaccines too slowly. The authorities emphasize that there may be a lower count of the number of vaccines administered due to delays in reporting and New Jersey, like other states, depends on the federal government for its supply.
Murphy announced on Wednesday that people over 65, as well as people with chronic health problems and smokers, can now receive the vaccine.
Authorities said the doses should be available to the general public in April or May. Health officials said they expect to vaccinate 70% of their adult residents – about 4.7 million people – by the end of May.
In recent days, the state has opened the first two of its six “mega-sites” planned for mass vaccination. Vaccines are also currently available at 128 locations across the state, including local health departments, ShopRite stores and pharmacies.
More than 1.2 million people signed up to receive the vaccine when they become eligible on Wednesday.
COUNTY BY COUNTY CASES (ranked by most new ones)
- Middlesex County: 52,202 confirmed cases (611 new), 1,567 confirmed deaths (216 likely)
- Essex County: 53,161 confirmed cases (591 new), 2,202 confirmed deaths (257 likely)
- Bergen County: 53,264 confirmed cases (573 new), 2,130 confirmed deaths (267 probable)
- Monmouth County: 38,325 confirmed cases (524 new), 1,038 confirmed deaths (102 probable)
- Hudson County: 50,262 confirmed cases (519 new), 1,599 confirmed deaths (170 likely)
- Ocean County: 38,405 confirmed cases (499 new), 1,410 confirmed deaths (91 likely)
- Camden County: 32,833 confirmed cases (342 new), 845 confirmed deaths (67 probable)
- Union County: 40,694 confirmed cases (335 new), 1,421 confirmed deaths (186 likely)
- Passaic County: 43,423 confirmed cases (301 new), 1,365 confirmed deaths (159 probable)
- Morris County: 23,620 confirmed cases (284 new), 817 confirmed deaths (194 likely)
- Burlington County: 24,973 confirmed cases (230 new), 607 confirmed deaths (52 likely)
- Gloucester County: 16,755 confirmed cases (219 new), 419 confirmed deaths (21 probable)
- Atlantic County: 14,583 confirmed cases (216 new), 382 confirmed deaths (18 probable)
- Mercer County: 21,161 confirmed cases (160 new), 726 confirmed deaths (38 probable)
- Somerset County: 14,456 confirmed cases (149 new), 612 confirmed deaths (94 likely)
- Cumberland County: 9,270 confirmed cases (106 new), 243 confirmed deaths (12 probable)
- Sussex County: 5,677 confirmed cases (78 new), 183 confirmed deaths (51 probable)
- Warren County: 4,704 confirmed cases (59 new), 173 confirmed deaths (14 probable)
- Hunterdon County: 4,572 confirmed cases (51 new), 88 confirmed deaths (54 likely)
- Salem County: 3,410 confirmed cases (48 new), 113 confirmed deaths (8 probable)
- Cape May County: 2,780 confirmed cases (41 new), 130 confirmed deaths (20 likely)
HOSPITALIZATIONS
There were 3,638 patients hospitalized in New Jersey with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday night. It was 88 less than the night before.
This included 644 in critical or intensive care (six less than the night before), with 456 in ventilators (four more).
There were 495 patients with COVID-19 discharged on Wednesday, according to the state’s COVID-19 panel.
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 the cases in which contact trackers determined that two or more students or school staff caught 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 (compared to 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 highest percentage of New Jersey residents who caught the virus (31.3%), followed by those aged 50-64 (23.8%), 18-29 (19, 2%), 65-79 (11.2%), 80 and older (5.5%), 5-17 (7.3%) and 0-4 (1.5%).
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 (47.49%), followed by those aged 65-79 (32.29%), 50-64 (15.68%), 30 -49 (4.14%), 18-29 (0.36%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.03%).
At least 7,606 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths 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 428 facilities, resulting in 6,510 active cases among residents and 7,034 among employees.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
As of Thursday morning, there were more than 92.4 million positive COVID-19 tests worldwide, according to a running count from Johns Hopkins University. More than 1.98 million people died of coronavirus-related complications.
The USA reported the majority of cases, with more than 23 million, and the majority of deaths, with more than 384,700.
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Matt Arco can be contacted at [email protected].