N.J. coronavirus deaths increase to 12,589, with 166,605 total cases. State death toll now surpasses WWII los – NJ.com
Officials on Saturday reported 103 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus and 523 new positive tests in New Jersey, two days before the state’s second stage of reopening from nearly three months of lockdown restrictions.
That brings the statewide total to 12,589 known deaths related to COVID-19, with 166,605 known cases, in 102 days since the state’s first case was reported March 4.
The state’s coronavirus death toll has now surpassed the total of 12,565 New Jersey residents who died in four years in World War II.
This is also the first time in 10 days the state has reported more than 100 new deaths.
Saturday’s new deaths are 55 more than those reported Friday, while the new cases are 28 more.
New Jersey, a densely populated state of 9 million residents, has the second-most COVID-19 deaths and cases among American states, after New York. There have now been at least 1,055,396 tests administered in the state.
Murphy delivered the latest totals on Twitter.
Officials have touted that New Jersey’s overall trends — in daily new deaths, cases, and hospitalizations — have dropped noticeably in recent weeks after peaking in April. That’s as more than a dozen other states have seen their new cases rise in recent days.
Saturday is the 15th consecutive day New Jersey reported fewer than 1,000 new cases and the 10th straight day with fewer than 2,000 coronavirus hospitalizations.
The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the state fell below 1,400 on Friday, after peaking at more than 8,000 in mid-April. And the number of those patients on ventilators fell below 300.
The state hit a one-day high in deaths, 468, on April 30 and a one-day high in new cases, 4,305, on April 3.
One caveat: Officials have said the number of new deaths and cases can be incomplete over the weekend because of a lag in test results.
With the state’s metrics falling and its economy still reeling, New Jersey begins 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.
Meanwhile, a new study from Montclair State University shows the state will have to increase testing and contact tracing even more to avoid a potentially large second wave of COVID-19 in the fall and winter.
Saturday’s numbers come as new cases are rising in 14 others states as more re-openings happen across the country. It’s also now been four weeks since beaches were allowed to reopen in New Jersey and more than a week since large-scale protests against police brutality and racial injustice began.
But Dr. Edward Lifshitz, director of the state Department of Health’s communicable disease service, said Friday officials are “not seeing any large spikes” in coronavirus infections.
“I can’t tell you that nobody has gotten sick and nothing has happened at all in either of these locations,” Lifshitz said. “But I can tell you that there hasn’t been any large events.”
HOSPITAL TRENDS
Officials said there were 1,395 coronavirus patients reported across New Jersey’s 71 hospitals as of 10 p.m. Friday, the latest available data.
That’s down 85 from Thursday, according to the state’s tracking website.
Of those hospitalized, 409 patients were in critical or intensive care, while 279 were on ventilators — about 9% of the state’s ventilator capacity. Those are drops of 6 and 21 patients, respectively, from Thursday.
Officials reported 104 coronavirus patients were discharged from New Jersey hospitals Thursday.
LONGTERM CARE NUMBERS
There have now been at least 35,147 coronavirus cases across 554 of the state’s longterm care facilities, according to the tracking website. That includes 23,441 residents and 11,706 staff members.
That’s 106 more cases than the state reported Friday.
Total cases include at least 5,882 lab-confirmed deaths at those facilities — or about 48% of the state’s total deaths.
That’s 114 more fatalities than the state reported Friday.
The number increases to 6,411 deaths when you include fatalities suspected to have been related to COVID-19. Of those, 6,296 were residents and 115 were staff members.
CORONAVIRUS CASES IN EACH COUNTY
Here are the latest county-by-county breakdowns of confirmed cases and fatalities as of early Friday afternoon, according to the tracking website:
- Bergen County: 805 cases, with 1,664 deaths
- Hudson County: 18,717 cases, with 1,253 deaths
- Essex County: 18,2336 cases, with 1,741 deaths
- Passaic County: 16,612 cases, with 992 deaths
- Middlesex County: 16,384 cases, with 1,074 deaths
- Union County: 16,337 cases, with 1,121 deaths
- Ocean County: 9,222 cases, with 813 deaths
- Monmouth County: 8,720 cases, with 667 deaths
- Mercer County: 7,323 cases, with 517 deaths
- Camden County: 6,986 cases, with 405 deaths
- Morris County: 6,568 cases, with 635 deaths
- Burlington County: 4,866 cases, with 356 deaths
- Somerset County: 4,756 cases, with 436 deaths
- Cumberland County: 2,661 cases, with 107 deaths
- Atlantic County: 2,475 cases, with 179 deaths
- Gloucester County: 2,402 cases, with 156 deaths
- Warren County: 1,202 cases, with 138 deaths
- Sussex County: 1,153 cases, with 149 deaths
- Hunterdon County: 1,038 cases, with 66 deaths
- Salem County: 705 cases, with 57 deaths
- Cape May County: 669 cases, with 58 deaths
There are another 18 positive cases that remain under investigation, with the patients’ home counties not confirmed.
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.
On Friday, the state also began releasing searchable COVID-19 cases and deaths by zip code on its tracking website.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
After entering Stage 2 of its reopening Monday, a number of businesses, services, and activities can operate again over the coming weeks.
Hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, tattoo parlors, and other personal-care businesses can reopen June 22. So can pools and outdoor, non-contact organized sports. And both youth day camps and in-person summer school can operate beginning July 6. All will have restrictions.
Gyms, libraries, museums, and some government offices — such as motor vehicle services — 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.
Asbury Park’s city council voted Wednesday to allow local restaurants to offer indoor dining starting Monday. But the state filed a lawsuit Friday to stop it, and a judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the city’s plan. Th council then called on restaurants not to move forward.
Murphy 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.
The governor 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.
More than 1.2 million New Jersey residents have filed for unemployment since aggressive social distancing to fight COVID-19 started in mid-March.
As of Saturday, more than 7.7 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 across the globe, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. Of those, more than 427,500 have died, while more than 3.6 million have recovered. There have been more than 114,800 deaths in the United States.
ALSO: Latest town-by-town breakdowns of coronavirus cases and deaths across N.J.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.