New Jersey reported 346 new coronavirus positive tests and 3 additional deaths on Monday as several school districts were forced to alter in-person reopening plans due to cases involving students and staff.
The state’s rate of transmission held steady Monday at 1.06 after falling for four consecutive days and remains above the critical mark of 1 that shows the state’s outbreak is expanding. The transmission rate has been above 1 for more than a week.
New Jersey has now reported 196,968 total cases out of more than 3.2 million tests in the more than six months since the state announced its first case March 4. That’s the eighth-most cases of any U.S. state and the Garden State has the second-highest number of people who died during the pandemic trailing only New York state. New Jersey has the nation’s highest COVID-19 death rate per 100,000 residents.
The state’s death toll stands at 16,034, which includes 14,245 lab-confirmed deaths and 1,789 that are considered probable. Of the three new deaths reported Monday, one person died on Thursday and the two others were Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday during his regular COVID-19 briefing in Trenton.
The rate of transmission held steady Monday at 1.06, which means each new case is leading to at least one other case.N.J. governor’s office
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New Jersey’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have dropped dramatically since the state’s peak in mid-April, when there were more than 8,000 patients.
There were 420 patients spread across the state’s 71 hospitals as of Sunday evening including 216 with confirmed cases and 206 awaiting test results, according to state officials. Among them, 91 people were in critical or intensive care, including 41 people on ventilators.
COUNTY-BY-COUNTY NUMBERS:
- Atlantic County: 3,895 positive test results (8 new), 242 confirmed deaths (11 probable)
- Bergen County: 21,995 positive test results (33 new), 1,799 confirmed deaths (243 probable)
- Burlington County: 6,747 positive test results (27 new), 450 confirmed deaths (39 probable)
- Camden County: 9,506 positive test results (31 new), 545 confirmed deaths (53 probable)
- Cape May County: 968 positive test results (8 new), 87 confirmed deaths (7 probable)
- Cumberland County: 3,698 positive test results (8 new), 149 confirmed deaths (8 probable)
- Essex County: 20,669 positive test results (15 new), 1,894 confirmed deaths (229 probable)
- Gloucester County: 4,082 positive test results (25 new), 217 confirmed deaths (7 probable)
- Hudson County: 20,385 positive test results (12 new), 1,352 confirmed deaths (160 probable)
- Hunterdon County: 1,264 positive test results (9 new), 71 confirmed deaths (54 probable)
- Mercer County: 8,498 positive test results (7 new), 598 confirmed deaths (36 probable)
- Middlesex County: 18,870 positive test results (28 new), 1,220 confirmed deaths (202 probable)
- Monmouth County: 11,217 positive test results (24 new), 771 confirmed deaths (92 probable)
- Morris County: 7,647 positive test results (20 new), 686 confirmed deaths (145 probable)
- Ocean County: 11,774 positive test results (34 new), 973 confirmed deaths (64 probable)
- Passaic County: 18,673 positive test results (11 new), 1,106 confirmed deaths (143 probable)
- Salem County: 1,016 positive test results (1 new), 83 confirmed deaths (6 probable)
- Somerset County: 5,575 positive test results (20 new), 494 confirmed deaths (74 probable)
- Sussex County: 1,428 positive test results (3 new), 161 confirmed deaths (37 probable)
- Union County: 17,324 positive test results (11 new), 1,189 confirmed deaths (166 probable)
- Warren County: 1,424 positive test results (5 new), 158 confirmed deaths (13 probable)
Murphy said late last week the state is keeping a close eye on key numbers as New Jersey schools reopen to a mix of in-person, remote and hybrid learning plans. At least six public school districts have been forced to change plans for in-person classes because students or staff have tested positive for COVID-19.
New Jersey’s younger population, meanwhile, accounts for the largest age group testing positive for the virus.
The percent positivity among the 19 to 24 age group is now 6%, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Friday. That means 6% of residents in that group that have been tested for COVID-19 have tested positive.
The percent positivity among all other age groups is “declining or remaining flat,” the commissioner said last week.
New Jersey has started reopening some of the businesses listed in Stage 3 of its recovery plan with gyms, movie theaters, indoor performing arts venues, and indoor dining at bars and restaurants permitted to reopen earlier this month with capacity limits and restrictions.
Murphy has said he could tighten guidelines if there are sustained increases or if businesses and patrons don’t comply with the rules.
As of Monday morning, there have been more than 29 million positive COVID-19 tests across the globe, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 924,800 people have died, while nearly 20 million people have recovered.
The United States has the most positive tests in the world, at more than 6.5 million, and the most deaths, at more than 194,100.
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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.