N.J. coronavirus deaths increase to 15,078 with 171,928 cases as Atlantic City casinos, amusement parks prepa – NJ.com

New Jersey’s death toll from the coronavirus increased to 15,078 fatalities, with 171,928 total cases, in nearly four months, officials reported Wednesday on the eve of another major step in reopening the state, as casinos, amusement parks, museums, and libraries will be allowed to resume operations in time for the July 4th weekend after months of closures.

The Garden State’s latest update included 45 new deaths attributed to COVID-19 and 423 new positive tests.

The number of new cases in the state continues to hold steady and remains well below the state’s peak numbers in April, when thousands of new cases were reported every day and hospitalizations topped 8,000 at one point.

Still, the number of patients hospitalized with the coronavirus or under suspicion for it increased nearly 9% as of Tuesday night, with 1,080 patients across 70 of the state’s 71 hospitals. One hospital did not report its numbers.

Of those, 217 were in intensive or critical care (six more than Monday), while 178 were on ventilators (one more than Monday).

There were 54 coronavirus patients admitted to the state’s hospitals Tuesday, while 87 patients were discharged.

Meanwhile, despite recent upticks, the state’s rate of retransmission remains below the key mark of 1 — meaning each infected resident passes the virus to fewer than one person. It now sits at .82, down slightly from previous days.

“This is a positive one day sign that we need to turn into a trend,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during his daily coronavirus briefing in Trenton, noting that only three counties have a rate of transmission over 1.

Concerns about surges of new cases in the Sunbelt and western states has led Murphy to call for travelers arriving from 16 states to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, including New Jersey residents who visited those states.

The governor also reversed plans to reopen restaurants to indoor dining on Thursday due to outbreak spikes in other states and concerning images of packed outdoor bars in the two weekends since they were reopened in New Jersey.

“As we head into the Independence Day weekend, we are still moving forward as quickly as we can, but as safely as we must,” Murphy said Wednesday.

He continued to urge people to practice social distancing and wearing face coverings in public.

“Don’t be the match the starts a COVID wildfire,” Murphy said. “Use your common sense for the common good.”

Of New Jersey’s 15,078 deaths, 13,224 have been confirmed via test and 1,854 are presumed coronavirus fatalities, a number state health officials began reporting for the first time last week.

New Jersey, a densely populated state of 9 million residents, has the second-most deaths and third-most cases among American states.

About 44% of deaths have been of either residents or staff members of nursing homes and other longterm care facilities.

Murphy also said only two deaths have been of residents under the age of 18, while 54 have been under 30 years old.

There have now been more than 1.4 million tests conducted in the Garden State since the outbreak began.

NUMBERS BY COUNTY

The county-by-county number of cases and deaths includes:

• Bergen County: 19,445 cases (24 new), 1,733 deaths (263 probable)
• Hudson County: 18,842 cases (14 new), 1,286 deaths (171 probable)
• Essex County: 18,771 cases (28 new), 1,787 deaths (237 probable)
• Passaic County: 16,894 cases (21 new), 1,039 deaths (148 probable)
• Middlesex County: 16,825 cases (34 new), 1,124 deaths (200 probable)
• Union County: 16,384 cases (15 new), 1,149 deaths (180 probable)
• Ocean County: 9,627 cases (26 new), 891 deaths (68 probable)
• Monmouth County: 9,163 cases (35 new), 715 deaths (93 probable)
• Mercer County: 7,676 cases (23 new), 541 deaths (38 probable)
• Camden County: 7,368 cases (55 new), 446 deaths (47 probable)
• Morris County: 6,757 cases (22 new), 653 deaths (146 probable)
• Burlington County: 5,189 cases (23 new), 390 deaths (38 probable)
• Somerset County: 4,881 cases (15 new), 447 deaths (81 probable)
• Cumberland County: 2,980 cases (18 new), 133 deaths (12 probable)
• Atlantic County: 2,878 cases (17 new), 202 deaths (14 probable)
• Gloucester County: 2,596 cases (22 new), 175 deaths (7 probable)
• Warren County: 1,241 cases (8 new), 148 deaths (11 probable)
• Sussex County: 1,197 cases (4 new), 156 deaths (37 probable)
• Hunterdon County: 1,081 cases (1 new), 69 deaths (55 probable)
• Salem County: 778 cases (8 new), 71 deaths (4 probable)
• Cape May County: 712 cases (0 new), 69 deaths (4 probable)

Another 643 cases remain under investigation to determine where the person resides.

LONGTERM CARE

There have now been 36,423 cases across 557 of the state’s nursing homes and other longterm care facilities, according to the state’s tracking website. That includes 24,179 residents and 12,244 staff members.

It also includes 6,443 lab-confirmed deaths. That number increases to 6,651 when you include deaths suspected to be related to COVID-19 — 6,534 residents and 117 staff members.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

The total number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey is cumulative and does not reflect the thousands of residents who have recovered. More than 30,200 residents in the state have recovered from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

There may also be infected residents who have yet to be tested, though the state has more than doubled the daily tests being administered over the last month.

The slight rise in hospitalizations Tuesday may be because of an increase in patients with allergy-induced asthma, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. Hospital officials, Persichilli said, are being cautious and listing those patients are under investigation for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Dr. Christina Tan, the state epidemiologist, said the state has not seen significant upticks in cases despite beaches having been open since Memorial Day weekend and weeks of mass protests against racial injustice.

“You wait about 14 days to try to look for upward trends,” Tan said. “We have not seen that.”

“We don’t want to have any false sense of security because we’re doing so well,” she added. “We have the tools right now to be able to contain the case load we’re seeing right now.”

Stage 2 of New Jersey’s reopening plans continue Thursday, when Atlantic City casinos are allowed to operate again, along with museums, aquariums, libraries, bowling alleys, boardwalk arcades, outdoor water parks, indoor shooting ranges, playgrounds, and outdoor amusement parks across the state.

Some of those indoor activities are reopening even though indoor dining remains banned. Officials said that’s because, unlike with other indoor activities, restaurant patrons can’t wear face masks when they eat and are largely sedentary for long periods of time.

On Monday, summer camps and summer school will be also allowed to resume. And the limit on the number of people allowed to gather outside is expected to increase from 250 to 500 in the coming days. That would pave the way for large outdoor high school graduations, which may resume Monday.

Murphy said parents worried about their children at camp or summer school should know that it’s easier for kids to space out and wear face masks than restaurant customers.

“Even if you’re inside, you have a face covering inside and moving around,” the governor said.

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 state’s daily metrics, as well as the decrease in the rate of retransmission.

The governor has also noted that New Jersey has ramped up testing and is expanding contact tracers to help officials more easily track and snuff out any coronavirus spikes.

Meanwhile, nearly 1.3 million Garden State residents have filed for unemployment benefits as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the economy.

The state also announced Wednesday that unemployed workers in New Jersey will be eligible for an additional 20 weeks of unemployment benefits.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, more than 10.5 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 across the globe, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. Of those, more than 512,300 have died, while nearly 5.3 million have recovered. There have been nearly 127,400 deaths in the United States.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

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