New Jersey health officials on Wednesday reported another 466 COVID-19 cases and seven new confirmed deaths as daily cases have been below 500 for the past five days.
The state’s seven-day average for confirmed positive tests is 548 — down 24% from a week ago and down 47% from a month ago. This is the lowest seven-day average for cases since July 22, 2021, when the average was 541.
The statewide rate of transmission has been 0.85 for three consecutive days. A transmission rate of 1 means the number of cases have leveled off, while anything below 1 means the outbreak is declining.
The CDC considers 12 counties in the state to have “low” community levels of the coronavirus. Nine counties — Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Morris, Salem and Sussex — have “medium” community levels.
Case counts and hospitalization numbers by region determine each county’s community level, according to the CDC.
There were 837 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported across the state’s 70 hospitals Tuesday night. Of those hospitalized, 113 are in intensive care and 38 are on ventilators.
The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted Friday, the most recent day for which data is available, was 4.92%.
TOTAL NUMBERS
New Jersey has reported more than 2.5 million total confirmed COVID-19 cases since it announced its first known case of the virus on March 4, 2020.
The Garden State has also recorded 498,947 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases. 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 36,010 COVID-19 deaths — 32,894 confirmed fatalities and 3,116 probable ones.
New Jersey had the 10th-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. as of Feb. 27.
VACCINATION NUMBERS
More than 7.1 million people who work, live or study in New Jersey have reached fully vaccinated status. More than 8 million people 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 10,118 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.
Of the active outbreaks at 309 facilities, there are 10,180 current cases among residents and 6,554 cases among staff, according to the latest data.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
There have been more than 676 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus database.
More than 6.8 million people have died because of the virus, the data shows.
The U.S. has reported the most cumulative cases (more than 103 million) and deaths (at least 1.1 million) of any nation.
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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at [email protected]