N.J. reports 2,287 COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths as rate of transmission continues to decline – NJ.com

New Jersey on Tuesday reported another 2,287 confirmed COVID-19 cases and three new confirmed deaths as the transmission rate continues to drop below its key benchmark.

The state’s rate of transmission was 0.92 on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health.

A transmission rate below 1 is an indication that each new case is leading to less than one additional case. When the transmission rate is 1, that means cases have leveled off at the current numbers. Anything above 1 means the outbreak is expanding.

New Jersey’s seven-day average for confirmed positive tests is 2,419, an 11% decrease in the past week but a 3% increase from a month ago.

There were 1,150 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported across the state’s 71 hospitals Tuesday. Of those hospitalized, 134 are in intensive care and 44 are on ventilators.

The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted Thursday — the most recent day with available data — was 11.57%.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers positivity rates above 10% to be “high.” However, the positivity rate is substantially lower than its peak of 40.83% on Jan. 1 during the height of the omicron variant.

Fourteen counties remain in the high-risk category as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of Thursday. They are: Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, Somerset, Union, Morris and Passaic.

Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Salem and Sussex counties are in the medium-risk category. Warren County is considered low risk. The CDC recommends that residents in high-risk counties wear masks indoors.

TOTAL NUMBERS

New Jersey has reported 2.23 million total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the more than two years since the state reported its first known case March 4, 2020.

The Garden State has also recorded 388,482 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases. And there are numerous cases that have likely never been counted, including at-home positive tests that are not included in the state’s numbers.

The state of 9.2 million residents has reported 34,346 COVID-19 deaths — 31,246 confirmed fatalities and 3,100 probable ones.

New Jersey has the ninth-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. — behind Mississippi, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, New Mexico and Arkansas — as of Friday. Last summer, the state had the most deaths per capita in the nation.

VACCINATION NUMBERS

More than 6.99 million people who work, live or study in the Garden State have reached fully vaccinated status.

Over 7.89 million have received a first dose since vaccinations began in the state on Dec. 15, 2020.

More than 4.18 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one. That number may rise after the Food and Drug Administration approved booster shots for healthy children between the ages of 5 and 11. U.S. regulators authorized the booster for kids, hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections continue to spread.

Regulators have paused plans to authorize a second booster shot for adults under 50 this summer. Instead, they hope to revamp vaccines to target emerging subvariants by the fall.

LONG-TERM CARE NUMBERS

At least 9,482 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data on Tuesday.

Of the active outbreaks at 394 facilities, there are 5,538 current cases among residents and 5,855 cases among staff, as of the latest data.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of Tuesday, there have been more than 585 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus database.

More than 6.4 million people have died because of the virus, the data shows.

Japan reported the most cases in the past 28 days, with more than 4.6 million as of Tuesday. The U.S. reported the second-most cases, with 3.4 million.

The U.S. has reported the most cumulative COVID-19 cases (more than 92.2 million) and deaths (at least 1.03 million) of any nation.

There have been more than 12 billion vaccine doses administered globally.

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Camille Furst may be reached at cfurst@njadvancemedia.com. Find her on Twitter @CamilleFurst.