New Jersey reported 58 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus on Friday and 386 new positive tests as the state continued to gradually lift restrictions by increasing the limit of people allowed in outdoor gatherings from 250 to 500 in time for the weekend of the July 4th.
The new figures bring the state total to 15,164 known COVID-19-related deaths – 13,308 laboratory-confirmed and 1,856 probable – with 172,742 known cases in nearly four months since Garden State announced its first case on March 4.
There were 1,028 patients hospitalized with or suspected of the virus in 70 of New Jersey’s 71 hospitals on Thursday night, one more than the day before. A hospital did not report data.
Of those patients, 216 were in critical or intensive care and 167 were on ventilators, both the same as Wednesday. There were 95 coronavirus patients released on Thursday.
Governor Phil Murphy announced the numbers on Twitter.
Murphy also asked residents to continue wearing face covers and practicing social distancing in the coming days, tweeting that COVID-19 “doesn’t take off on holiday weekends.”
Once it became a coronavirus hot spot, New Jersey has seen its daily COVID-19 numbers drop significantly and stabilize in the past two months after long closings.
Meanwhile, many other states, many of which reopened more quickly, have seen new cases and hospitalizations grow in recent days. There were 51,504 new cases reported in the United States on Thursday, a new record for a single day.
Florida has now overtaken New Jersey in total cases, dropping Garden State to fifth place among US states. A densely populated state of 9 million residents, New Jersey ranks second in total deaths.
New Jersey has also seen its retransmission rate remain below the key mark of 1 for the past few weeks, meaning that each infected resident transmits the virus to less than one person. But the rate has increased in recent days. It was 0.87 as of Thursday.
The Garden State is currently in Stage 2 of its gradual reopening plans, with casinos, amusement parks, bowling alleys, playgrounds, indoor pools, museums, and libraries allowed to reopen with restrictions beginning Thursday. . Summer camps, summer school, and large outdoor graduation ceremonies can resume on Monday.
But Murphy has postponed the reopening of the indoor dinner in restaurants and bars with a 25% capacity, which was scheduled to start Thursday. He said it is still too dangerous because clients are largely sedentary for a long period of time and cannot wear face masks while eating.
With the increase in cases elsewhere, Murphy is also calling travelers arriving from 16 states to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, including New Jersey residents who visited those states.
Authorities have said the increases in the new cases are due in part to the fact that evidence has increased dramatically in recent weeks. They point out that hospitalizations, retransmission rate, and daily positivity are better indicators of how the state handles the crisis because test results may be delayed.
More than 1.48 million tests have now been conducted in the state since the outbreak began here.
LONG TERM CARE
About 44% of New Jersey COVID-19 deaths have been residents or staff members of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
There have now been 36,503 cases in 557 of those facilities, according to the state’s tracking website. That includes 24,212 residents and 12,291 staff members.
The total includes 80 more cases than those reported on Thursday.
It also includes 6,533 laboratory confirmed deaths. That number increases to 6,655 when COVID-19-related deaths are included: 6,537 residents and 118 staff members.
NUMBERS PER COUNTY
Here are the latest county breakdowns of confirmed cases and deaths in the early Thursday afternoon, according to the tracking website:
- Bergen County: 19,532 cases, with 1,739 confirmed deaths and 261 probable deaths
- Hudson County: 18,913 cases, with 1,287 confirmed deaths and 167 probable deaths
- Essex County: 18,842 cases, with 1,793 confirmed deaths and 241 probable deaths
- Passaic County: 16,927 cases, with 1,045 confirmed deaths and 147 probable deaths
- Middlesex County: 16,884 cases, with 1,132 confirmed deaths and 196 probable deaths
- Union County: 16,416 cases, with 1,151 confirmed deaths and 175 probable deaths
- Ocean County: 9,666 cases, with 899 confirmed deaths and 68 probable deaths
- Monmouth County: 9,248 cases, with 721 confirmed deaths and 96 probable deaths
- Mercer County: 7,711 cases, with 542 confirmed deaths and 43 probable deaths
- Camden County: 7,419 cases, with 462 confirmed deaths and 51 probable deaths
- Morris County: 6,790 cases, with 658 confirmed deaths and 147 probable deaths
- Burlington County: 5,238 cases, with 393 confirmed deaths and 38 probable deaths
- Somerset County: 4,919 cases, with 449 confirmed deaths and 80 probable deaths
- Cumberland County: 2,998 cases, with 134 confirmed deaths and 13 probable deaths
- Atlantic County: 2,924 cases, with 206 confirmed deaths and 14 probable deaths
- Gloucester County: 2,619 cases, with 180 confirmed deaths and 7 probable deaths
- Warren County: 1,246 cases, with 150 confirmed deaths and 11 probable deaths
- Sussex County: 1,199 cases, with 156 confirmed deaths and 37 probable deaths
- Hunterdon County: 1,085 cases, with 69 confirmed deaths and 55 probable deaths
- Salem County: 794 cases, with 72 confirmed deaths and 5 probable deaths
- Cape May County: 714 cases, with 70 confirmed deaths and 4 probable deaths
There are 658 other positive cases remaining under investigation, with the home counties of unconfirmed patients.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live Map Tracker The | Newsletter The | Homepage
The total number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey is cumulative and does not reflect the thousands of residents who have recovered. More than 30,300 residents in the state have recovered from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Authorities say increases in new deaths and positive tests may produce total numbers that don’t match the previous day’s numbers because the state is constantly investigating and reevaluating cases.
Murphy has not outlined specific benchmarks the state has reached by gradually lifting its blocking restrictions. Instead, it has signaled a general drop in the state’s daily metrics.
The governor also noted that New Jersey has increased testing and is expanding contact trackers to help officials more easily track and eliminate coronavirus spikes.
Murphy said Thursday that the state has hired 130 more contact trackers, bringing the state total to 357.
Meanwhile, approximately 1.3 million Garden State residents have applied for unemployment benefits as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the economy. But the number of workers who filed last week fell by 15%.
As of Friday afternoon, more than 10.9 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 worldwide, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University. Of these, more than 522,300 have died, while almost 5.7 million have recovered. There have been almost 128,800 deaths in the United States.
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Brent johnson can be reached in [email protected].
