The death toll from the coronavirus in New Jersey rose to 15,582 confirmed and probable deaths Tuesday, with 175,915 known cases, as hospitalizations continued to decline and authorities expanded the Garden State quarantine travel advisory to 22 states.
Meanwhile, the state’s transmission rate remained below the key benchmark of 1.
The state reported 28 more deaths attributed to COVID-19 and 423 additional positive tests. Of the total deaths, 13,635 are laboratory confirmed and 1,947 are considered probable.
Governor Phil Murphy announced the new figures on Twitter.
New Jersey, once a coronavirus hot spot, has seen its number of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations remain relatively stable in recent weeks after dropping significantly from its peaks in April. In comparison, the Garden State had a one-day high of 460 deaths on April 30 and a maximum of 4,305 new cases on April 3.
Tuesday marks the sixth day in a row, New Jersey has reported fewer than 40 new deaths and 400 new cases.
The state is one of only three states in control of the virus, along with Vermont and New Hampshire, according to the non-profit organization Covid Act Now.
Constant numbers come as many other states, many of which reopened economies more quickly, see waves of new cases.
Murphy said during a radio interview Tuesday morning that the state is “much better” than it was weeks ago.
“But the rest of the nation is worse,” said the governor at Q 104.3-FM in New York City. “And that worries us a lot. We are not in the end zone by any means. “
With the state’s metrics dropping, Murphy has gradually lifted New Jersey’s restrictions in recent months, though he paused Stage 2 of the state’s recovery plan earlier this month when the state’s transmission rate rose to 1. That meant that, on average, each infected resident was passing the virus on to at least one other person.
The transmission rate has been less than 1 for days. It remains stable at 0.91, the state reported Tuesday.
Murphy is now calling travelers arriving in New Jersey from 22 states considered hotspots to voluntarily quarantine for 14 days to help prevent the virus from spreading further in the state. New Jersey health officials added Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin to the list on Tuesday and removed Delaware.
Authorities said Monday that resting time in the state has been steadily increasing for three weeks due to national lawsuit, which has the potential to complicate contact tracing and reopening.
Additionally, Murphy said he is concerned about possible outbreaks due to crowded, laxly detached beaches in Jersey Shore cities this weekend.
“If we do not manage capacity on the beaches and we cannot achieve social distancing, we are probably playing with fire,” the governor said Monday.
New Jersey, a densely populated state of 9 million residents, ranks second among US states in total deaths from COVID-19 and fifth in total cases.
More than 1.7 million tests have now been conducted in New Jersey since the outbreak began.
HOSPITAL NUMBERS
There were 888 patients with confirmed or suspected cases of coronavirus as of Monday night at New Jersey’s 71 hospitals. That’s less than 892 on Sunday night. New Jersey peaked in hospitalizations on April 14 with 8,065 patients.
Of those hospitalized on Monday, 149 were in intensive or critical care (17 less on Sunday) and 79 were on ventilators (2 less on Sunday).
This was the fifth consecutive day that ventilator use was less than 100 patients.
There were 56 coronavirus patients discharged from state hospitals on Monday, according to the state’s coronavirus monitoring website.
LONG TERM CARE NUMBERS
About 43% 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 36,980 cases at 562 of those facilities, according to the state’s tracking website. That includes 24,438 residents and 12,542 employees.
There are currently 32,415 active cases at 436 facilities, 21,493 among residents and 10,922 staff members.
There have been 6,754 laboratory confirmed deaths in long-term care facilities. That number rises to 6,738 when it includes deaths suspected of being related to COVID-19: 6,619 residents and 119 staff members.
COUNTY BY COUNTY CASES AND DEATHS
- Bergen County: 19,907 cases (24 new), 1,760 deaths (272 probable)
- Hudson County: 19,193 cases (39 new), 1,308 deaths (179 probable)
- Essex County: 19,058 cases (20 new), 1,829 deaths (249 probable)
- Passaic County: 17,105 cases (24 new), 1,067 deaths (158 probable)
- Middlesex County: 17,089 cases (28 new), 1,173 deaths (206 likely)
- Union County: 16,537 cases (18 new), 1,160 deaths (184 probable)
- Ocean County: 9,867 cases (35 new), 925 deaths (73 probable)
- Monmouth County: 9,542 cases (26 new), 742 deaths (98 likely)
- Mercer County: 7,807 cases (11 new), 559 deaths (44 probable)
- Camden County: 7,746 cases (34 new), 499 deaths (52 probable)
- Morris County: 6,921 cases (13 new), 666 deaths (154 probable)
- Burlington County: 5,412 cases (30 new), 410 deaths (41 probable)
- Somerset County: 5,036 cases (17 new), 465 deaths (86 likely)
- Cumberland County: 3,063 cases (7 new), 139 deaths (13 probable)
- Atlantic County: 3,047 cases (24 new), 218 deaths (15 probable)
- Gloucester County: 2,788 cases (22 new), 168 deaths (7 probable)
- Warren County: 1,267 cases (2 new), 153 deaths, (14 probable)
- Sussex County: 1,233 cases (3 new), 158 deaths (37 likely)
- Hunterdon County: 1,095 cases (1 new), 70 deaths (56 probable)
- Salem County: 818 cases (3 new), 73 deaths (5 probable)
- Cape May County: 740 cases (6 new), 75 deaths (4 probable)
There are 644 additional positive cases that remain 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 31,200 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.
Authorities also emphasize that not all new deaths reported each day have occurred in the past 24 hours. Some deaths that occurred before are now being verified, they said.
Meanwhile, authorities said Monday that adults 18 to 29 are the fastest-growing age group of residents who test positive for the virus in New Jersey.
More than 1.3 million Garden State residents have applied for unemployment benefits since the social alienation and business closings began in mid-March.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been more than 13.1 million positive tests for COVID-19 worldwide, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University. Of these, more than 574,600 have died, while almost 7.3 million have recovered.
There have been more than 135,900 deaths in the United States.
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Brent johnson can be reached in [email protected].
