1,798 new COVID cases, 15 deaths announced as lab-reporting issue again affects N.J. numbers – NJ.com

New Jersey on Sunday reported another 1,798 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 15 additional deaths as the number of New Jersey residents who have received at least one dose of the vaccine approaches 1 million.

But the numbers reported on Sunday might change, Gov. Phil Murphy warned in a tweet.

“We are aware of an electronic lab-reporting issue that may be affecting today’s numbers. These labs have been alerted and we’re working to resolve this as quickly as possible,” Murphy said while announcing the numbers.

The state reported a similar issue Feb. 8.

The number of coronavirus patients in New Jersey’s hospitals fell for the 10th straight day, dropping to 2,449 on Saturday night. That’s down 35% from a recent peak of 3,802 on Dec. 23.

The statewide rate of transmission was 0.86, up from 0.84 the day before. The rate increased both weekend days after falling steadily during the first 11 days of February. When the rate falls below 1, it indicates the state’s outbreak is slowing.

The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted on Wednesday, the most recent day available, was 7.24% based on 48,018 tests.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the update on social media as he continues to quarantine after an undisclosed member of his family tested positive Wednesday for the virus. Murphy said he tested negative Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the governor announced Friday that a limited number of parents in New Jersey will be allowed to watch their children play indoor high school and youth sports again after months of being banned from the stands. The new rules limit attendees to up to two parents or guardians per athlete for indoor games and matches. But the total spectators may not exceed 35% of the room’s capacity or 150 people total.

Officials also announced Friday that New Jersey has recorded five new cases of the highly contagious coronavirus variant first discovered in the United Kingdom, bringing the state’s total to 38.

New Jersey has now reported 665,197 positive coronavirus cases out of more than 9.9 million PCR tests in the more than 11 months since the state’s outbreak began. There have also been 80,790 positive antigen tests. Those cases are considered probable, and health officials have warned that positive antigen tests could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given in tandem.

The state of 9 million people has also reported 22,454 residents have died from complications related to COVID-19 — 20,208 confirmed fatalities and 2,246 considered probable.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

There have been 1,341,185 vaccine doses administered in New Jersey as of Sunday, Murphy announced. Of those, 984,737 were the first of two doses people will receive, while 355,862 were the second.

That’s out of more than 1.77 million doses the state has received from the federal government, according to a running tally by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY

  • ATLANTIC COUNTY – 41,817 doses administered
  • BERGEN COUNTY – 149,961 doses administered
  • BURLINGTON COUNTY – 69,078 doses administered
  • CAMDEN COUNTY – 78,918 doses administered
  • CAPE MAY COUNTY – 19,420 doses administered
  • CUMBERLAND COUNTY – 19,559 doses administered
  • ESSEX COUNTY – 110,388 doses administered
  • GLOUCESTER COUNTY – 47,457 doses administered
  • HUDSON COUNTY – 61,634 doses administered
  • HUNTERDON COUNTY – 18,344 doses administered
  • MERCER COUNTY – 37,140 doses administered
  • MIDDLESEX COUNTY – 100,429 doses administered
  • MONMOUTH COUNTY – 100,558 doses administered
  • MORRIS COUNTY – 97,238 doses administered
  • OCEAN COUNTY – 79,678 doses administered
  • PASSAIC COUNTY – 62,268 doses administered
  • SALEM COUNTY – 8,545 doses administered
  • SOMERSET COUNTY – 51,366 doses administered
  • SUSSEX COUNTY – 20,746 doses administered
  • UNION COUNTY – 66,003 doses administered
  • WARREN COUNTY – 12,844 doses administered
  • UNKNOWN COUNTY – 43,857 doses administered
  • OUT OF STATE – 43,937 doses administered

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 2,449 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jersey’s 71 hospitals as of Saturday night — 65 fewer than the previous night.

That included 520 in critical or intensive care (one more than the previous night), with 326 on ventilators (17 fewer).

There were also 310 COVID-19 patients discharged Saturday, according to the state’s dashboard.

SCHOOL CASES

New Jersey has reported 142 in-school COVID-19 outbreaks, which have resulted in 671 cases among students, teachers and school staff, according to the latest numbers.

The outbreaks — defined as cases in which people were confirmed to have caught or transmitted the virus in the classroom or during academic activities — were reported in all 21 counties, according to the state’s dashboard.

Those numbers do not include students or staff believed to have been infected outside school or cases that can’t be confirmed as in-school outbreaks. Though the numbers keep rising every week, Murphy has said the school outbreak statistics remain below what state officials were expecting when schools reopened for in-person classes.

New Jersey defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school.

There are about 1.4 million students and teachers across the state, though teaching methods amid the outbreak have varied, some are in-person, some are hybrid and others are all-remote.

AGE BREAKDOWN

Broken down by age, those 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (31%), followed by those 50-64 (23.4%), 18-29 (19.4%), 65-79 (11%), 5-17 (8.2%), 80 and older (5.1%), and 0-4 (1.7%).

On average, the virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with preexisting conditions. Nearly half the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (47.36%), followed by those 65-79 (32.7%), 50-64 (15.55%), 30-49 (4.02%), 18-29 (0.36%), 5-17 (0%), and 0-4 (0.02%).

At least 7,846 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

There are currently active outbreaks at 339 facilities, resulting in 6,940 active cases among residents and 7,148 among staffers.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of Sunday morning, there have been more than 108.6 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.39 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.

The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 27.5 million, and the most deaths, at more than 484,200.

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Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com.