New Jersey health officials reported another 1,752 COVID-19 cases and six confirmed deaths on Thursday as the rate of transmission has seen an increase.
The state’s seven-day average for confirmed positive cases is 1,371 — an 8% increase from a week ago and a 19% decrease from a month ago.
The statewide rate of transmission was 1.03 on Thursday, up from 0.97 the previous day. A transmission rate of 1 means the number of cases have leveled off, while anything above 1 indicates the outbreak is expanding.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t currently deem any of the state’s 21 counties to be in the “high” risk category for coronavirus transmission.
Mercer County is designated “low” risk while the other 20 counties are considered “medium” risk.
There were 1,171 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported across the state’s 71 hospitals as of Wednesday night. Of those hospitalized, 122 are in intensive care and 38 are on ventilators.
The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted Saturday, the most recent day for which data is available, was 10.77%.
The CDC considers positivity rates above 10% to be “high.” New Jersey’s statewide positivity rate is substantially lower than its peak of 40.83% on Jan. 1 during the height of the omicron variant.
TOTAL NUMBERS
New Jersey has reported more than 2.37 million total confirmed COVID-19 cases since it announced its first known case on March 4, 2020.
The Garden State has also recorded 433,463 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases, as of Thursday. There are also numerous cases that were likely never counted, including at-home positive tests that are not included in the state’s numbers.
The state of 9.2 million residents has reported 34,926 COVID-19 deaths — 31,810 confirmed fatalities and 3,116 probable ones as of Thursday.
New Jersey has the ninth-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. — behind Mississippi, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alabama, West Virginia, Arkansas, New Mexico and Tennessee — as of Oct. 24. Last summer, the state had the most deaths per capita in the nation.
VACCINATION NUMBERS
More than 7.1 million people who work, live or study in New Jersey have reached fully vaccinated status. Nearly 8 million have received a first dose since vaccinations began in the state on Dec. 15, 2020.
More than 4.3 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one.
LONG-TERM CARE NUMBERS
At least 9,779 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 the most recent state data.
A survey from the CDC last month reported influenza, primary COVID-19, and COVID-19 booster coverage was lowest among health care personnel working in long-term care settings.
Of the active outbreaks at 354 facilities, there are 8,303 current cases among residents and 6,126 cases among staff, as of the latest data.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
There have been more than 631 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe as of Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus database.
Nearly 6.6 million people have died because of the virus, the data shows.
The U.S. has reported the most cumulative cases (more than 97.6 million) and deaths (at least 1.07 million) of any nation.
There have been more than 12.8 billion vaccine doses administered globally.
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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com
