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 now received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and about 336,000 have been fully vaccinated.
The Garden State’s seven-day average for new confirmed positive cases is now 3,253, up 4.5% from a week ago but down 42% from a month ago.
The number of coronavirus patients in New Jersey’s hospitals fell for the ninth straight day, dropping to 2,514 on Friday night. That’s down 11% from a week ago and 34% from a recent peak of 3,802 on Dec. 23.
The statewide rate of transmission reported Saturday was 0.84, up from 0.81 the day before. This is the first time since Feb. 2 the rate has increased after falling steadily the last 11 days. Any number below 1 indicates the state’s outbreak is slowing.
The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted on Tuesday, the most recent day available, was 7.27% based on 54,206 tests.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced the update on social media as he continues to quarantine after an undisclosed member of his family tested positive Wednesday for the virus. Murphy said he tested negative Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the governor announced Friday that a limited number of parents in New Jersey will be allowed to watch their children play indoor high school and youth sports again after months of being banned from the stands. The new rules limit attendees to up to two parents or guardians per athlete for indoor games and matches. But the total spectators may not exceed 35% of the room’s capacity or 150 people total.
Officials also announced Friday that New Jersey has recorded five new cases of the highly contagious coronavirus variant first discovered in the United Kingdom, bringing the state’s total to 38.
New Jersey has now reported 663,416 positive coronavirus cases out of more than 9.9 million PCR tests in the more than 11 months since the state’s outbreak began. There have also been 80,403 positive antigen tests. Those cases are considered probable and health officials have warned the positive antigen tests could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given in tandem.
The state of 9 million people has also reported 22,440 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19 in that time — 20,194 confirmed fatalities and 2,246 considered probable.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
There have been 1,298,028 vaccine doses administered in New Jersey as of Saturday, Murphy announced. Of those, 961,449 were the first of two doses people will receive, while 336,002 were the second.
That’s out of more than 1.77 million doses the state has received from the federal government, according to a running tally by the federal Centers for Disease Control.
COUNTY-BY-COUNTY CASES (sorted by most new)
- Bergen County: 64,453 confirmed cases (377 new), 2,276 confirmed deaths (277 probable)
- Essex County: 63,729 confirmed cases (342 new), 2,340 confirmed deaths (261 probable)
- Middlesex County: 63,962 confirmed cases (340 new), 1,803 confirmed deaths (222 probable)
- Hudson County: 59,990 confirmed cases (325 new), 1,765 confirmed deaths (177 probable)
- 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 probable)
- 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 probable)
- Burlington County: 29,538 confirmed cases (126 new), 663 confirmed deaths (52 probable)
- 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 probable)
- 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 probable)
- Cape May County: 3,465 confirmed cases (15 new), 150 confirmed deaths (25 probable)
- 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
- PASSAIC 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 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jersey’s 71 hospitals as of Friday night — 51 fewer than the previous night.
That included 519 in critical or intensive care (six fewer than the previous night), with 343 on ventilators (seven more).
There were also 295 COVID-19 patients discharged Friday, according to the state’s dashboard.
SCHOOL CASES
New Jersey has reported 142 in-school COVID-19 outbreaks, which have resulted in 671 cases among students, teachers, and school staff, according to the latest numbers.
The outbreaks — defined as cases in which people were confirmed to have caught or transmitted the virus in the classroom or during academic activities — were reported in all 21 counties, according to the state’s dashboard.
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. Though the numbers keep rising every week, Murphy has said the school outbreak statistics remain below what state officials were expecting when schools reopened for in-person classes.
New Jersey 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.
There are about 1.4 million students and teachers across the state, though teaching methods amid the outbreak have varied, some are in person, some are hybrid, and others are all-remote.
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 (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 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 (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 have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
There are currently active outbreaks at 339 facilities, resulting in 6,940 active cases among residents and 7,148 among staffers.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
As of early Saturday afternoon, there have been more than 108.3 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.38 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.
The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 27.5 million, and the most deaths, at more than 481,300.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.