New Jersey health officials reported a further 3,466 confirmed coronavirus cases and another 49 deaths on Tuesday when the state stopped dispensing Johnson & Johnson vaccines on the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control.
“No one who has received this vaccine should panic or worry,” Gov. Phil Murphy said of the J&J vaccine as he announced the latest figures at a bill signing event at the Paramus Public Library. He said the state still plans to vaccinate 70% of adults by the end of June.
Health facilities and vaccine centers in New Jersey have now administered more than 5.54 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since the state’s first injection was given on December 15. That includes more than 3.5 million people on at least one dose and more than 2.24 million – nearly 1 in 3 adults – considered fully vaccinated, according to state data. That includes more than 236,000 J&J single doses before the suspension of those shots Tuesday.
The state’s seven-day average for confirmed positive tests is now 3,185, 14% lower than a week ago, but 7% higher than a month ago.
71 New Jersey hospitals reported 2,319 patients on Monday evening, 58 more people from the day before. Hospital admissions remain well below the recent record of 3,873 on Dec. 22.
The state’s transmission speed on Tuesday fell again from 0.94 on Monday to 0.93. It has fallen steadily from 1.07 on April 5th. Any number above 1 indicates that the outbreak is growing, with each new case leading to at least one different case. A decreasing transmission speed means that the dispersion is decreasing.
The positivity rate for tests conducted on Friday, the most recent day available, was 8.51%.
In total, New Jersey has now reported 842,408 confirmed coronavirus cases from more than 12.6 million PCR tests since the state reported its first case on March 4, 2020. More than 117,513 positive antigen tests have also been conducted. Those cases are considered likely, and health officials have warned that positive antigen tests can overlap confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given together.
The state of 9 million people has reported that 24,945 have died as a result of complications related to COVID-19, including 22,372 confirmed deaths and 2,573 fatalities considered probable.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker Newsletter Homepage
VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY
- ATLANTIC COUNTY – 171,233 doses administered
- BERGEN COUNTY – 602,720 doses administered
- BURLINGTON COUNTY – 284,816 doses administered
- CAMDEN COUNTY – 320,033 doses administered
- CAPE MAY COUNTY – 70,777 doses administered
- CUMBERLAND COUNTY – 74,880 doses administered
- ESSEX COUNTY – 413,013 doses administered
- GLOUCESTER COUNTY – 192,894 doses administered
- HUDSON COUNTY – 313,977 doses administered
- HUNTERDON COUNTY – 76,622 doses administered
- MERCER COUNTY – 212,772 doses administered
- MIDDLESEX COUNTY – 462,443 doses administered
- MONMOUTH COUNTY – 396,101 doses administered
- MORRIS COUNTY – 376,618 doses administered
- OCEAN COUNTY – 321,238 doses administered
- PASSAIC COUNTY – 246,992 doses administered
- SALEM COUNTY – 33,919 doses administered
- SOMERSET COUNTY – 219,684 doses administered
- SUSSEX COUNTY – 84,007 doses administered
- UNION COUNTY – 290,106 doses administered
- WARREN COUNTY – 54,267 doses administered
- UNKNOWN COUNTRY – 22,593 doses administered
- OUT OF STATE – 133,591 doses administered
COUNT-FOR-COUNTY-NUMBERS (sorted by most new cases)
- Essex County: 81,857 confirmed cases (417 new), 2,534 confirmed deaths (291 likely)
- Middlesex County: 81,347 confirmed cases (331 new), 2,003 confirmed deaths (245 probable)
- Bergen County: 84,502 confirmed cases (303 new), 2,475 confirmed deaths (294 likely)
- Hudson County: 75,614 confirmed cases (284 new), 1,960 confirmed deaths (203 likely)
- Passaic County: 61,151 confirmed cases (284 new), 1,632 confirmed deaths (194 probable)
- Monmouth County: 64,272 confirmed cases (258 new), 1,397 confirmed deaths (137 probable)
- Camden County: 45,404 confirmed cases (214 new), 1,141 confirmed deaths (97 likely)
- Morris County: 40,154 confirmed cases (182 new), 950 confirmed deaths (241 likely)
- Union County: 57,252 confirmed cases (181 new), 1,668 confirmed deaths (216 probable)
- Burlington County: 36,137 confirmed cases (164 new), 748 confirmed deaths (63 probable)
- Ocean County: 62,741 confirmed cases (149 new), 1,885 confirmed deaths (155 likely)
- Gloucester County: 24,670 confirmed cases (143 new), 557 confirmed deaths (30 likely)
- Mercer County: 30,129 confirmed cases (113 new), 871 confirmed deaths (43 likely)
- Somerset County: 22,871 confirmed cases (77 new), 707 confirmed deaths (105 probable)
- Atlantic County: 23,489 confirmed cases (71 new), 599 confirmed deaths (35 probable)
- Cumberland County: 13,667 confirmed cases (71 new), 375 confirmed deaths (36 probable)
- Hunterdon County: 8,217 confirmed cases (54 new), 117 confirmed deaths (54 probable)
- Salem County: 5,006 confirmed cases (53 new), 158 confirmed deaths (13 likely)
- Warren County: 8,154 confirmed cases (52 new), 204 confirmed deaths (25 likely)
- Sussex County: 10,732 confirmed cases (51 new), 222 confirmed deaths (66 probable)
- Cape May County: 4,298 confirmed cases (8 new), 169 confirmed deaths (30 probable)
HOSPITALIZATIONS
Monday night, there were 2,319 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases in 71 New Jersey hospitals – 58 more than the night before.
That included 459 on critical or intensive care (11 more than the night before), with 239 on fans (two less).
There were also 203 COVID-19 patients who were discharged Monday, while 243 were admitted.
In comparison, hospital admissions peaked at more than 8,300 patients during the first wave of the April pandemic.
SCHOOL CASES
New Jersey has reported 240 school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 1,070 cases among students, teachers and school staff, according to the state dashboard.
The state defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers have determined that two or more students or school personnel have captured or transferred COVID-19 in class or during academic activities at the school. Those numbers exclude students or staff who are believed to be infected outside of school or have cases that cannot be confirmed as outbreaks in school.
There are about 1.4 million public school students and teachers in the state, although teaching methods varied during the outbreak, with some schools teaching in-person, some using a hybrid format, and others remaining entirely at bay.
Murphy recently announced that most New Jersey schools can move classrooms three feet apart, instead of six feet, under new social distance guidelines.
The governor also said that the state schools will return to full in-person classes for the next school year and that districts will not offer virtual learning, even for parents who want that option due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19. But Murphy clarified that students and teachers who have health problems that put them at greater risk for a serious coronavirus case will have a virtual option.
AGE TO BREAK DOWN
By age, the 30- to 49-year-olds make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have contracted the virus (30.9%), followed by the 50-64 (22.9%), 18-29 (19 , 8%), 65 -79 (10.4%), 5-17 (9.4%), 80 years and older (4.6%) and 0-4 (1.9%).
On average, the virus has been more deadly to older residents, especially those with pre-existing conditions. Almost half of the COVID-19 deaths in the state were among residents 80 and older (46.87%), followed by those 65-79 (32.89%), 50-64 (15.78%) , 30-49 (4.05%), 18-29 (0.39%), 5-17 (0%), and 0-4 (0.03%).
At least 7,989 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths were among residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
There are active outbreaks at 225 facilities, resulting in 3,676 active cases among residents and 4,366 among staff. Those numbers are declining as vaccinations continue at the facilities.
GLOBAL FIGURES
As of Tuesday, there have been more than 136.8 million positive COVID-19 tests around the world, according to a running count from Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.9 million people have died of complications from the coronavirus.
The US reported the most cases, with more than 31.2 million, and the most deaths, with more than 562,600.
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Matt Arco can be reached at [email protected]