N.J. coronavirus deaths increase to 12,443, with 165,816 total cases 100 days after outbreak began – NJ.com
New Jersey has reported 12,443 known deaths attributed to the coronavirus, with 165,816 known cases, in the 100 days since the first case in the state was announced, though the state is now four days away from its second stage of reopening from nearly three months of lockdown.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday announced 70 new deaths related to COVID-19 and 539 new positive tests in the state of 9 million residents.
But officials say New Jersey’s overall trends — including daily new deaths, cases, and hospitalizations — have fallen significantly since the peak in April. Wednesday marked the 13th consecutive day the state announced fewer than 1,000 new cases and the eighth straight day it reported fewer than 2,000 coronavirus hospitalizations.
“For 100 days, we have asked you to take extraordinary steps,” Murphy said during his coronavirus briefing in Trenton. “We have asked you to take to heart the need for social distancing. We have asked you to forego so many of the little things that we once could simply take for granted. We have asked you to wear face coverings when out in public. We have asked for your patience as an unprecedented pandemic engulfed our state.”
New Jersey hit a one-day high in deaths — 460 — on April 30 and a one-day high in new cases — 4,391 — on April 16.
Murphy also said the rate of COVID-19 retransmission in New Jersey has remained below 1 for weeks — meaning every infected person spreads it to fewer than one other person. More than 1 million coronavirus tests have been administered in the state.
Officials said there were 1,512 coronavirus patients reported across New Jersey’s 71 hospitals as of 10 p.m. Wednesday. That’s down 189 from Tuesday and down from more than 8,000 patients in mid-April, according to the state’s tracking website.
Of those hospitalized, 445 patients were in critical or intensive care, while 319 were on ventilators — about 10% of the state’s ventilator capacity. Officials reported there were 169 coronavirus patients discharged from New Jersey’s hospitals Wednesday.
“We still have some numbers we need to keep driving down, as you can see here,” Murphy said. “But I am confident of our odds.”
The county-by-county number cases and deaths include:
- Bergen County: 18,719 with 1,646 deaths
- Hudson County: 18,675 with 1,242 deaths
- Essex County: 18,234 with 1,723 deaths
- Passaic County: 16,555 with 984 deaths
- Union County: 16,337 with 1,104 deaths
- Middlesex County: 16,327 with 1,069 deaths
- Ocean County: 9,166 with 803 deaths
- Monmouth County: 8,627 with 661 deaths
- Mercer County: 7,275 with 510 deaths
- Camden County: 6,938 with 400 deaths
- Morris County: 6,601 with 631 deaths
- Burlington County: 4,832 with 349 deaths
- Somerset County: 4,721 with 432 deaths
- Cumberland County: 2,627 with 102 deaths
- Atlantic County: 2,431 with 171 deaths
- Gloucester County: 2,367 with 155 deaths
- Warren County: 1,198 with 137 deaths
- Sussex County: 1,149 with 149 deaths
- Hunterdon County: 1,032 with 65 deaths
- Salem County: 689 with 55 deaths
- Cape May County: 663 with 55 deaths
Another 653 cases are under investigation to determine where the person resides.
EXPLAINING THE TOTAL CASES
The total number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey is cumulative and does not reflect the likely thousands of residents who have recovered. There may also be infected residents who have yet to be tested, though the state has more than doubled the daily tests being administered in recent weeks.
Murphy this week has called on more residents to get tested to give the state more data.
Around 80% of the those who have died of the coronavirus in New Jersey have been residents 65 and older, officials have said.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
With New Jersey’s metrics improving and its economy struggling, Murphy on Tuesday lifted the sweeping stay-at-home order he instituted in late March and increased limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings as the state continues to gradually reopen.
Those moves allow larger indoor religious services to resume and will permit large outdoor graduation ceremonies by July 6. But indoor dining and entertainment venues remain closed.
New Jersey will enter Stage 2 of its multi-phase reopening plan Monday, when outdoor dining will be permitted and nonessential businesses can welcome customers back inside, at 50% capacity. Plus, child daycare centers may reopen.
Hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, and tattoo parlors can reopen June 22. So can pools and outdoor, non-contact organized sports. And youth day camps can operate beginning July 6. All will have restrictions.
Gyms, libraries, museums, and some government offices are also expected to reopen during the stage, though there is not timeline yet for those.
Murphy has already allowed parks, beaches, boardwalks, and lakes in New Jersey to reopen.
The governor has not outlined specific benchmarks the state has reached as he gradually lifts his lockdown restrictions. Instead, he has pointed to an overall drop in the number of new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations, as well as a steady decrease in the virus’ rate of reproduction.
Murphy has also noted that New Jersey has ramped up testing and is expanding contact tracers that will allow officials to more easily track and snuff out any coronavirus spikes.
As of Thursday morning, more than 7.4 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. Of those, more than 417,000 have died and more than 3.4 million have recovered.
Of those hospitalized, 445 471 patients were in critical or intensive care, while 319 were on ventilators — about 1% of the state’s ventilator capacity. The former is down 26 and the latter 23 from Tuesday.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.