N.J. reports 3,199 new COVID-19 cases, 15 more deaths as Murphy orders new restrictions – NJ.com

New Jersey health officials on Monday reported 3,199 new coronavirus cases and another 15 deaths, while hospitalizations increased for the third straight day — to a six-month high — as Gov. Phil Murphy announced new restrictions to combat the second wave of the pandemic.

The state is further lowering the size limit on outdoor gatherings to 25 people and suspending indoor youth, high school, and adult recreation sports, Murphy announced at his latest COVID-19 briefing in Trenton.

The new outdoor gathering limit will take effect next Monday, Dec. 7 — two weeks after Murphy previously lowered the limit from 500 to 150.

The switch to the 25-person limit is indefinite, Murphy said. There are exemptions for political and religious gatherings, weddings, funerals and memorial services. Outdoor dining is also not included in the new limit.

The indoor sports ban will begin Saturday and last until Jan. 2. It does not affect indoor collegiate or professional sports.

Plus, state health officials issued guidelines for the winter holiday season, including discouraging parades, keeping Christmas tree and Menorah lighting events, calling on carolers be socially distant and wearing masks, and asking children to avoid sitting on Santa’s lap for photos.

But Murphy sought Monday to dispel rumors that another statewide lockdown is imminent, saying the state is “much better footing” than in the spring.

Monday marked the Garden State’s second straight day of fewer than 4,000 new cases. The state’s seven-day rolling average for new cases is 4,014 — down 1% from a week ago, but still more than double the 1,751 cases reported on the first day of the month.

Still, daily reporting of positive tests is expected to be affected this week by the Thanksgiving holiday — with fewer tests likely administered over the weekend. New Jersey is now averaging around 45,000 tests a day, and that does not include recently deployed rapid tests.

The positivity rate for tests conducted on Thanksgiving Day, the most recent day available, was 11.34%, though officials warned there was a smaller number of tests conducted on the holiday. The number has been below 4% during the summer.

Statewide coronavirus hospitalizations have risen the last three days after a dip around Thanksgiving. There were 2,961 patients with confirmed (2,761) or suspected (263) cases Sunday night — including 575 in intensive care, with 332 on ventilators. That’s much lower than the 8,000 who were hospitalized at the first wave’s peak in April but the most since May 21.

”Our concern remains, overwhelmingly, the situation in our hospitals — even more than the increase in the raw numbers of cases,” Murphy said during his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton. ”And it comes down to this — maintaining the stability of our health care system and ensuring the ability of our front-line medical workers to treat patients starts with implementing restrictions that will keep fewer people from becoming a hospital patient in the first place.”

The statewide rate of transmission declined again to 1.11, down from 1.14 Sunday. That’s the lowest transmission rate since Sept. 19 and reflects that while the outbreak continues to expand, the rate of increase is slowing, officials said. But any number above 1 means the state’s outbreak is growing.

New Jersey has now reported 337,304 cases out of 6.1 million tests since the outbreak started March 4.

The state of 9 million residents has also reported 16,993 deaths from complications related to the virus in that time — 15,164 confirmed fatalities and 1,829 considered probable.

“For perspective, the total number of New Jerseyans killed in both World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam — combined — is roughly 18,300,” Murphy said. “So in eight months, we’ve lost nearly as many New Jerseyans as died in war over a nearly 60-year span.”

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

News about a coronavirus vaccine has been positive lately, with officials saying initial doses could arrive in New Jersey by Christmas. Priority will go to vulnerable residents and health care workers, but a larger rollout could happen by April or May.

In the meantime, Murphy has warned the next few months will be brutal as more people head indoors because of the colder weather and with the stretch of winter holidays ahead. Officials are calling on residents to keep wearing masks, practicing social distancing, washing hands and limiting gatherings.

Murphy has said the state is trying to use more “surgical” restrictions to battle the spread. He has also said the state will try to keep as much in-person learning at schools as possible.

New Jersey’s top health official, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, was not at Monday’s briefing because she’s is isolating after potentially being exposed to COVID-19. Persichilli is scheduled to work from home until Dec. 8.

COUNTY-BY-COUNTY NUMBERS (sorted by most new)

  • Passaic County: 30,180 positive tests (336 new), 1,172 confirmed deaths (144 probable)
  • Essex County: 35,358 positive tests (312 new), 1,997 confirmed deaths (233 probable)
  • Camden County: 19,249 positive tests (295 new), 618 confirmed deaths (57 probable)
  • Bergen County: 34,871 positive tests (279 new), 1,874 confirmed deaths (250 probable)
  • Middlesex County: 30,562 positive tests (278 new), 1,285 confirmed deaths (205 probable)
  • Hudson County: 31,691 positive tests (255 new), 1,414 confirmed deaths (159 probable)
  • Ocean County: 21,993 positive tests (242 new), 1,058 confirmed deaths (68 probable)
  • Monmouth County: 20,657 positive tests (209 new), 811 confirmed deaths (92 probable)
  • Union County: 28,437 positive tests (193 new), 1,264 confirmed deaths (170 probable)
  • Burlington County: 13,803 positive tests (139 new), 499 confirmed deaths (44 probable)
  • Morris County: 13,647 positive tests (134 new), 712 confirmed deaths (147 probable)
  • Gloucester County: 9,053 positive tests (119 new), 274 confirmed deaths (7 probable)
  • Mercer County: 13,797 positive tests (70 new), 623 confirmed deaths (37 probable)
  • Somerset County: 9,104 positive tests (67 new), 534 confirmed deaths (75 probable)
  • Atlantic County: 7,984 positive tests (45 new), 276 confirmed deaths (14 probable)
  • Sussex County: 2,593 positive tests (45 new), 162 confirmed deaths (37 probable)
  • Hunterdon County: 2,510 positive tests (43 new), 77 confirmed deaths (54 probable)
  • Salem County: 1,644 positive tests (25 new), 87 confirmed deaths (5 probable)
  • Cumberland County: 5,101 positive tests (24 new), 166 confirmed deaths (8 probable)
  • Warren County: 2,512 positive tests (19 new), 160 confirmed deaths (13 probable)
  • Cape May County: 1,672 positive tests (17 new), 101 confirmed deaths (10 probable)

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 2,961 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jersey’s 71 hospitals as of Sunday night. That’s 59 more than the night before. Hospitalizations has climbed steadily for three weeks before a slight dip around Thanksgiving.

Of those hospitalized as of Sunday night, 575 were in critical or intensive care (16 more than the night before), including 332 on ventilators (28 more).

There were 253 coronavirus patients discharged from hospitals Sunday, according to the state’s dashboard.

Officials say hospitals are now better equipped to treat patients than they were in the spring and are confident they will have enough capacity. But they warn the more cases rise, the more likely hospitalizations — and eventually deaths — will keep growing.

coronavirus

New Jersey’s hospitals reported a brief dip in patients over the Thanksgiving holiday, but the rise in hospitalizations as of Sunday night brings that number to its highest point in six months.

SCHOOL CASES

Although hundreds of school districts have announced coronavirus cases and dozens of New Jersey schools have temporarily switched to all remote classes since the start of the school year, state health officials have said 66 schools have had confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks.

Murphy on Tuesday announced 10 new in-school outbreaks over the past week. There have now been 269 total cases of in-school transmission in those 66 schools since the start of the school year.

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.

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 (31.6%), followed by those 50-64 (24.5%), 18-29 (18.6%), 65-79 (11.6%), 80 and older (6.8%), 5-17 (5.5%), and 0-4 (1.1%).

On average, the virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with pre-existing conditions. Nearly half the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (47.1%), followed by those 65-79 (32.2%), 50-64 (16%), 30-49 (4.3%), 18-29 (0.4%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.02%).

At least 7,291 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. That number has been rising again at a steeper rate in recent weeks.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of early Monday afternoon, there have been more than 62.9 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 1.46 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications.

The U.S. has reported the most cases with 13.4 million and the most deaths at more than 266,900.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.