New Jersey health officials on Tuesday reported another 3,466 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and an additional 49 deaths as the state hit pause on giving out Johnson & Johnson vaccines following a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control.
“No one who has received this vaccine should panic or worry,” Gov. Phil Murphy said of the J&J vaccine while announcing the latest numbers during a bill signing event at Paramus Public Library. He said the state still plans to hit its goal of vaccinating 70% of adults by the end of June.
New Jersey health facilities and vaccine centers have now administered more than 5.54 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered since the state’s first shot was given Dec. 15. That includes more than 3.5 million people with at least one dose and more than 2.24 million — nearly 1 in 3 adults — considered fully vaccinated, according to state data. That includes more than 236,000 J&J one-shot doses before the suspension of those shots Tuesday.
The state’s seven-day average for confirmed positive tests is now 3,185, down 14% from a week ago, but up 7% from a month ago.
New Jersey’s 71 hospitals reported 2,319 patients as of Monday night, 58 more people from a day earlier. Hospitalizations remain well below the recent high of 3,873 on Dec. 22.
The state’s rate of transmission on Tuesday decreased again to 0.93 from 0.94 on Monday. It has dropped steadily from 1.07 on April 5. Any number over 1 indicates that the outbreak is growing, with each new case leading to at least one other case. A declining transmission rate means the spread is slowing.
The positivity rate for tests conducted on Friday, the most recent day available, was 8.51%.
In all, New Jersey has now reported 842,408 confirmed coronavirus cases out of more than 12.6 million PCR tests since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. There have also been more than 117,513 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.
The state of 9 million people has reported 24,945 have died from complications related to COVID-19 including 22,372 confirmed deaths and 2,573 fatalities considered probable.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY
- ATLANTIC COUNTY – 171,233 doses administered
- BERGEN COUNTY – 602,720 doses administered
- BURLINGTON COUNTY – 284,816 doses administered
- CAMDEN COUNTY – 320,033 doses administered
- CAPE MAY COUNTY – 70,777 doses administered
- CUMBERLAND COUNTY – 74,880 doses administered
- ESSEX COUNTY – 413,013 doses administered
- GLOUCESTER COUNTY – 192,894 doses administered
- HUDSON COUNTY – 313,977 doses administered
- HUNTERDON COUNTY – 76,622 doses administered
- MERCER COUNTY – 212,772 doses administered
- MIDDLESEX COUNTY – 462,443 doses administered
- MONMOUTH COUNTY – 396,101 doses administered
- MORRIS COUNTY – 376,618 doses administered
- OCEAN COUNTY – 321,238 doses administered
- PASSAIC COUNTY – 246,992 doses administered
- SALEM COUNTY – 33,919 doses administered
- SOMERSET COUNTY – 219,684 doses administered
- SUSSEX COUNTY – 84,007 doses administered
- UNION COUNTY – 290,106 doses administered
- WARREN COUNTY – 54,267 doses administered
- UNKNOWN COUNTY – 22,593 doses administered
- OUT OF STATE – 133,591 doses administered
COUNTY-BY-COUNTY NUMBERS (sorted by most new cases)
- Essex County: 81,857 confirmed cases (417 new), 2,534 confirmed deaths (291 probable)
- Middlesex County: 81,347 confirmed cases (331 new), 2,003 confirmed deaths (245 probable)
- Bergen County: 84,502 confirmed cases (303 new), 2,475 confirmed deaths (294 probable)
- Hudson County: 75,614 confirmed cases (284 new), 1,960 confirmed deaths (203 probable)
- Passaic County: 61,151 confirmed cases (284 new), 1,632 confirmed deaths (194 probable)
- Monmouth County: 64,272 confirmed cases (258 new), 1,397 confirmed deaths (137 probable)
- Camden County: 45,404 confirmed cases (214 new), 1,141 confirmed deaths (97 probable)
- Morris County: 40,154 confirmed cases (182 new), 950 confirmed deaths (241 probable)
- Union County: 57,252 confirmed cases (181 new), 1,668 confirmed deaths (216 probable)
- Burlington County: 36,137 confirmed cases (164 new), 748 confirmed deaths (63 probable)
- Ocean County: 62,741 confirmed cases (149 new), 1,885 confirmed deaths (155 probable)
- Gloucester County: 24,670 confirmed cases (143 new), 557 confirmed deaths (30 probable)
- Mercer County: 30,129 confirmed cases (113 new), 871 confirmed deaths (43 probable)
- Somerset County: 22,871 confirmed cases (77 new), 707 confirmed deaths (105 probable)
- Atlantic County: 23,489 confirmed cases (71 new), 599 confirmed deaths (35 probable)
- Cumberland County: 13,667 confirmed cases (71 new), 375 confirmed deaths (36 probable)
- Hunterdon County: 8,217 confirmed cases (54 new), 117 confirmed deaths (54 probable)
- Salem County: 5,006 confirmed cases (53 new), 158 confirmed deaths (13 probable)
- Warren County: 8,154 confirmed cases (52 new), 204 confirmed deaths (25 probable)
- Sussex County: 10,732 confirmed cases (51 new), 222 confirmed deaths (66 probable)
- Cape May County: 4,298 confirmed cases (8 new), 169 confirmed deaths (30 probable)
HOSPITALIZATIONS
There were 2,319 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jersey’s 71 hospitals as of Monday night — 58 more than the previous night.
That included 459 in critical or intensive care (11 more than the night before), with 239 on ventilators (two fewer).
There were also 203 COVID-19 patients discharged Monday, while 243 were admitted.
By comparison, hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,300 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April.
SCHOOL CASES
New Jersey has reported 240 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 1,070 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.
Murphy recently announced most New Jersey schools can move classroom desks three feet apart, instead of six feet, under new social distancing guidelines.
The governor also said the state’s schools will return to full in-person classes for the next school year and districts will not be allowed to offer virtual learning, even for parents who want that option due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns. But Murphy clarified that students and teachers who have health issues that could put them at greater risk of a serious coronavirus case will have a virtual option.
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 (22.9%), 18-29 (19.8%), 65-79 (10.4%), 5-17 (9.4%), 80 and older (4.6%) and 0-4 (1.9%).
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 (46.87%), followed by those 65-79 (32.89%), 50-64 (15.78%), 30-49 (4.05%), 18-29 (0.39%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.03%).
At least 7,989 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 225 facilities, resulting in 3,676 active cases among residents and 4,366 among staffers. Those numbers have been slowing as vaccinations continue at the facilities.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
As of Tuesday, there have been more than 136.8 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.9 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.
The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 31.2 million, and the most deaths, at more than 562,600.
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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com.