New Jersey on Sunday reported another 1,130 COVID-19 cases and 16 confirmed deaths as the state’s seven-day average for new positive tests continues to drop, along with the statewide rates of positivity and transmission.
The state’s seven-day average for newly confirmed positive tests fell to 1,300, the lowest it has been since Aug. 10, when cases were on an end-of-summer upward trend. That’s also down 10% from a week ago and 32% from a month ago. This marks 24 consecutive days in which the average has dropped.
The statewide rate of transmission also fell slightly to .93 after four consecutive days at 0.94. Any transmission rate below 1 indicates that each infected person is passing the virus to less than one other person and the outbreak is no longer expanding.
There were 814 people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across 65 of New Jersey’s 71 hospitals as of Saturday night, according to state data, down from 897 the night before.
The number of patients has mostly leveled out over the past month, with only slight increases and decreases.
There were 81 patients discharged in the 24 hours leading up to Saturday night. Of those hospitalized, 186 were in intensive care (31 fewer than the previous night), with 101 of them on ventilators (11 fewer).
Gov. Phil Murphy has noted statewide numbers are improving, but still urges people to get vaccinated to prevent another spike as the weather gets colder and the holiday season looms.
More than 5.97 million people who live, work or study in New Jersey — a state of about 9.2 million residents — have now been fully vaccinated. Gov. Phil Murphy said this week more than 75% of those eligible in the state have been fully vaccinated. Only six other states top that mark, he said.
More than 6.73 million people in the state have received at least one dose, and more than 315,081 people have received third doses or boosters.
On Thursday, a panel of advisers to the federal Food and Drug Administration voted to recommend some Americans who received Moderna’s vaccine should get a half-dose booster.
In addition, Murphy told NJ Advance Media on Thursday that state officials haven’t ruled out the possibility of requiring proof of vaccination to dine at restaurants and attend entertainment events or mandating students be vaccinated to attend in-person classes. He said “everything” remains “on the table.”
Officials also said this week there have now been 33,963 breakthrough COVID-19 cases among those fully vaccinated in the state. Of those, only 672 people have been hospitalized and 182 have died.
From the week of Sept. 20-26, no coronavirus deaths in the state occurred among fully vaccinated people.
The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted Wednesday, the most recent day available, was 3.77%.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
Through the first several weeks of the school year, districts in New Jersey have reported at least 96 in-school outbreaks, for a total of 521 cases as of Wednesday. That’s an increase of 27 new outbreaks since last week and a 69% increase in total cases.
In-school outbreaks are defined as three or more cases that are determined through contact tracing to have been transmitted between staff or students while at school. They do not include total cases among staff and students.
The highly transmissible delta variant of the virus continues to dominate cases in New Jersey.
Fourteen of New Jersey’s 21 counties are listed as having “high” rates of coronavirus transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties have all been downgraded to substantial transmission. But the CDC is recommending people in all 21 counties wear masks for indoor public settings regardless of vaccination status.
New Jersey, an early epicenter of the pandemic, has now reported 27,725 total COVID-19 deaths in slightly more than 19 months — 24,922 confirmed and 2,803 considered probable, according to the state dashboard. That’s the second-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S.
The state has reported 1,026,591 total confirmed cases out of the more than 15.74 million PCR tests conducted since it announced its first case March 4, 2020. The state has also reported 154,693 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases.
As of Friday, at least 8,582 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data. There are active outbreaks at 165 facilities, resulting in 728 current cases among residents and 621 among staffers.
As of Sunday, there have been more than 240.5 million positive COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, with more than 4.89 million people having died due to the virus. The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 44.91 million) and deaths (approximately 724,166) than any other nation.
There have been more than 6.6 billion vaccine doses administered globally.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.