N.J. coronavirus deaths rise to 15,765 with 178,345 cases as transmission rate remains steady – NJ.com

The coronavirus death toll in New Jersey climbed to 15,765 on Friday, with 36 new fatalities reported by state officials, as the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 178,345 since the outbreak began in March.

Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey is the only state in the nation that as seen its number of new cases drop the last two full weeks.

However, New Jersey’s case numbers in recent days have been skewed not only by a nationwide delay in getting test results thanks to a surge in cases across the country but also by a reporting issue with Quest private lab test results. Health officials said they have been working through that backlog, which was initially estimated at 15,000 tests.

Murphy said the state’s rate of transmission — a key figure officials are using to determine how to further lift restrictions — is now at 0.84, slightly lower than it was on Thursday and below the key benchmark of 1.

When the transmission rate is below 1, that means that each new case is spreading to fewer than one other person and the outbreak is declining. Still, Murphy has cautioned that the testing result lag could affect the current transmission rate.

Friday marks the 16th straight day New Jersey has reported fewer than 50 new deaths in one day.

The total number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey is cumulative and does not reflect the thousands of residents who have recovered. More than 31,900 residents in the state have recovered from the virus as of Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

An early coronavirus hotspot, New Jersey has seen its number of new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations per day drop dramatically and remain relatively in check for weeks. The Garden State had a one-day peak high of 460 deaths on April 30, a peak high of 4,305 new cases on April 3.

Hospitalizations dipped below 1,000 patients for the first time at the end of June before creeping up slightly and then dropping below 1,000 people again on July 3. The number of people hospitalized since then has held steady between 855 and 964 patients prior to dropping below 800 patients for the first time on Saturday, according to the state’s Department of Health.

Numerous other states have seen new cases and hospitalizations surge in recent weeks. To protect the state, Murphy is now calling on travelers from 31 states that qualify as coronavirus hotspots to voluntarily self-quarantine for 14 days upon arriving in New Jersey.

The largest percentage of people who tested positive were between the ages of 30 and 49 years old, with 56,129 or 31.7%, according to state data from the middle of the week. Residents between 50 and 64 years old were the second highest, with 49,177 or 27.7%, then 65-79 years old, with 24,974 or 14.1% and 18-29, with 24,470 or 13.8%. Ten percent of people tested were 80 or older (17,691) and only 2.2% of positive cases were between the ages of five and 17, and only 909 people up to age four tested positive, according to the data.

The outbreak has been disproportionately deadly for older people.

There have been 6,525 lab-confirmed COVID-19 deaths of people who were 80 or older, according to state data from Wednesday. There were 4,436 deaths of people between 65 and 79, and 2,186 between the ages of 50 and 64. According to the data, 583 people between 30 and 49 died, 55 people between 18 and 29, and two people in the state younger than 4 years old.

Though Murphy has gradually peeled back restrictions and businesses closings in recent months, New Jersey remains in Stage 2 of its reopening plan. The governor paused the plan earlier this month after the transmission rate increased over 1 for the first time in months. That means gyms, movie theaters, indoor dining at bars and restaurants, and more remain closed.

The governor announced Monday that parents will have the option of having their children learn fully remotely. State officials are expected to reveal more details Friday afternoon.

“Our top priority is keeping students, their families and educators safe,” Murphy said at the start of his briefing Friday. “And to do that, flexibility, local decision making and empowering parents and educators are all critical.”

As of early Friday, there have been more than 15.5 million positive tests for COVID-19 across the globe, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. Of those, more than 633,600 have died, while more than 8.8 million have recovered.

There have been more than 144,300 deaths in the United States, by far the most in the world.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN EACH COUNTY

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

Bergen County: 20,162 cases, with 1,778 confirmed deaths and 263 probable deaths
Hudson County: 19,313 cases, with 1,320 confirmed deaths and 175 probable deaths
Essex County: 19,228 cases, with 1,851 confirmed deaths and 247 probable deaths
Middlesex County: 17,476 cases, with 1,186 confirmed deaths and 212 probable deaths
Passaic County: 17,237 cases, with 1,085 confirmed deaths and 156 probable deaths
Union County: 16,321 cases, with 1,170 confirmed deaths and 175 probable deaths
Ocean County: 10,116 cases, with 944 confirmed deaths and 70 probable deaths
Monmouth County: 9,791 cases, with 754 confirmed deaths and 100 probable deaths
Camden County: 7,952 cases, with 511 confirmed deaths and 55 probable deaths
Mercer County: 7,879 cases, with 568 confirmed deaths and 43 probable deaths
Morris County: 7,035 cases, with 674 confirmed deaths and 153 probable deaths
Burlington County: 5,533 cases, with 428 confirmed deaths and 41 probable deaths
Somerset County: 5,106 cases, with 475 confirmed deaths and 78 probable deaths
Atlantic County: 3,189 cases, with 225 confirmed deaths and 15 probable deaths
Cumberland County: 3,108 cases, with 141 confirmed deaths and 13 probable deaths
Gloucester County: 2,920 cases, with 195 confirmed deaths and 7 probable deaths
Warren County: 1,302 cases, with 155 confirmed deaths and 14 probable deaths
Sussex County: 1,264 cases, with 158 confirmed deaths and 37 probable deaths
Hunterdon County: 1,113 cases, with 70 confirmed deaths and 56 probable deaths
Salem County: 849 cases, with 76 confirmed deaths and 5 probable deaths
Cape May County: 776 cases, with 81 confirmed deaths and 5 probable deaths

There are another 675 positive cases that remain under investigation, with the patients’ home counties not confirmed.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.