N.J. coronavirus deaths increase to 9,116 with 137,085 total cases. Officials confirm 166 new deaths, 1,759 n – NJ.com

Seven weeks after Gov. Phil Murphy ordered residents to stay home and non-essential businesses to close to fight the spread, New Jersey’s death toll from the coronavirus increased to at least 9,116 fatalities Saturday, with state officials reporting at least 137,085 total cases since the outbreak started in early March.

Officials confirmed another 166 deaths attributed to COVID-19 and 1,759 new positive tests in the 9 million-resident Garden State, which has more cases and deaths than any U.S. state but New York.

Murphy said the daily number of cases and hospitalizations keeps dropping. But he has yet to give a definitive timeline for gradually peeling back his near-lockdown orders, saying the state risks the numbers jumping again if reopening is rushed. He has called on residents to continue social distancing and wearing face masks when going out to stores or parks.

This is the fourth straight day there were fewer than 2,000 new positive COVID-19 tests announced, even though deaths are up.

Murphy said the state is “seeing the most progress” in the number of positive tests that come back each day. It fell from the 50% range a month ago to 27% on Monday, he said.

The governor also said the total number of patients in intensive care is getting better, but not at the rate “we’d like to see.”

“We are not out of the woods, folks,” Murphy added during his daily coronavirus briefing in Trenton.

About half of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have come at longterm care facilities, such as nursing homes and veterans homes. There were 4,852 deaths at the facilities as of Friday, officials said — 161 more than the day before.

Meanwhile, more than half of the state’s known fatalities have had underlying conditions, according to the state’s coronavirus tracking website.

On Friday, the state reported a 4-year-old girl with an underlying medical condition was the first child in New Jersey to die from COVID-19 complications. Officials declined to provide additional details about the child’s death, including which town or county she was from.

On Saturday, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said there is “no indication at this point that the death was related to Kawasaki,” a rare disease that has been linked to children infected with COVID-19. Persichilli and Murphy, however, would not disclose that the underlying medical condition was.

“This is a very specific situation with this blessed little kid,” Murphy said, adding he would not release any other details about how the child died.

There have been a total of 273,375 COVID-19 tests performed in New Jersey, with a positivity rate of 38.7%, according to the state’s coronavirus tracking website.

HOSPITALIZATION UPDATE

As of 10 p.m. Friday, there were 4,628 coronavirus patients in New Jersey’s hospitals. Of those, 1,416 were in critical or intensive care and 1,054 were on ventilators, officials said.

All of those numbers dropped from the day before, officials said. There were 364 new COVID-19 hospitalizations Friday, while 422 patients were discharged.

“So we continue to see more patients leaving the hospital than entering,” Murphy said. “All the numbers keep trending in the right direction, and it is our collective job to see they continue to do so. Social distancing is working. Wearing a face covering is working. … And, the more we keep this up, the better positioned we will be to confidently and responsibly get ourselves on the road back, and we can begin to restart our economy.”

PLASMA DONATIONS

Murphy also announced the American Red Cross will open two convalescent plasma collection sites in North Jersey on Monday. One will be at the American Red Cross’ blood center in Fairfield, and the other will be at University Hospital in Newark.

“In late March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced an initiative to collect blood plasma from those who have recovered from novel coronavirus to treat patients with serious or immediately life-threatening COVID-19 infections,” Murphy said.

“The plasma from recovered patients contains antibodies that may help others in their own fight against the virus. While this is a new advance against COVID-19, it is not a new practice,” he added. “Convalescent plasma has been used before as a potentially life-saving treatment against quickly developing diseases and infections, when proven treatments or vaccines were not yet available.”

Murphy urged New Jerseyans who have recovered from COVID-19 to consider donating plasma. For more information or to sign up, visit RedCrossBlood.org/plasma4covid.

“If you are eligible and qualify to donate, someone will get back to you to make an appointment,” Murphy said. “Additionally, other hospitals across the state also have begun their own plasma-treatment efforts.”

The pandemic has seriously damaged the state’s economy, with more than 1 million residents having filed for unemployment since mid-March. Many also say they’ve had to wait for weeks to get paid and have struggled to get through to the state’s phone and online systems. Businesses have suffered untold revenue losses, as well.

Meanwhile, lawmakers, businesses, and residents have been pushing Murphy to more swiftly peel back his restrictions. The governor allowed parks and golf courses to reopen last weekend, with social-distancing guidelines. And with Memorial Day about two weeks away, Murphy said, he may soon allow beaches and boardwalks to reopen with similar restrictions.

Plus, he said he is considering allowing retail stores offer curbside service.

Murphy said Saturday he had a morning phone call with state lawmakers from both political parties about taking more steps to reopen the economy.

“The faster we can break the back of the public health crisis, the faster we can reopen the economy,” the governor said.

Murphy has formed a commission to draft a broader reopening. But he has said the state must meet milestones first — seeing daily case and hospitalizations drop for 14 days, widely increasing testing, and installing contact tracing and isolation programs.

The governor said he plans to announce more about testing and contact tracing early next week.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN EACH COUNTY

Here are the latest county-by-county breakdowns of confirmed cases as of early Saturday afternoon, according to the state coronavirus tracking website:

  • Bergen County: 16,804 cases, with 1,348 deaths
  • Hudson County: 16,675 cases, with 954 deaths
  • Essex County: 15,365 cases, with 1,414 deaths
  • Passaic County: 14,428 cases, with 734 deaths
  • Union County: 13,984 cases, with 852 deaths
  • Middlesex County: 13,759 cases, with 759 deaths
  • Ocean County: 7,366 cases, with 522 deaths
  • Monmouth County: 6,815 cases, with 439 deaths
  • Morris County: 5,833 cases, with 511 deaths
  • Mercer County: 5,233 cases, with 330 deaths
  • Camden County: 4,758 cases, with 217 deaths
  • Somerset County: 3,996 cases, with 331 deaths
  • Burlington County: 3,531 cases, with 194 deaths
  • Gloucester County: 1,631 cases, with 79 deaths
  • Atlantic County: 1,494 cases, with 72 deaths
  • Cumberland County: 1,245 cases, with 34 deaths
  • Warren County: 1,040 cases, with 103 deaths
  • Sussex County: 1,023 cases, with 127 deaths
  • Hunterdon County: 706 cases, with 46 deaths
  • Cape May County: 442 cases, with 32 deaths
  • Salem County: 400 cases, with 18 deaths

There are another 557 positive cases in New Jersey that are still under investigation, with the patients’ home counties not confirmed.

The total number of coronavirus cases is cumulative and does not reflect the likely thousands of residents who have recovered, officials said.

It’s been difficult to get a full picture of how much the virus has spread here because state-run sites have so far tested only symptomatic residents, results have lagged for days, and the state has not yet announced significant increases in daily testing.

But officials announced Friday that the two state testing sites will begin allowing asymptomatic residents to get tested, starting Sunday.

As of Saturday morning, almost 4 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 across the globe, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. Of those, more than 276,000 have died — including 77,344 in the United States.

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

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com.