NJ reports 854 COVID cases, 3 deaths. Hospitalizations, transmission rate, positive tests rise again. – Reverb MSN Music

New Jersey on Wednesday reported three more newly confirmed COVID-19 deaths and another 854 confirmed cases as statewide positive tests, hospitalizations, and the rate of transmission continue to rise amid the spread of the delta variant, which accounted for 75% of the state’s new cases in the most recent four-week sampling.

The state’s seven-day average for confirmed positive COVID-19 tests is now 754, up 52% from a week ago and 277% from a month ago, when officials were reporting record-low daily caseloads. It’s the highest seven-day average since May 15. Officials say unvaccinated residents are driving the spread and remain the most at risk.

The update comes a day after the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed course and recommended that all people, including the fully vaccinated, wear masks indoors in public again in parts of the U.S. with “high” or “substantial” transmission to help curb the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. The agency is also recommending everyone in K-12 schools wear face coverings, regardless of vaccination status, a move endorsed on Wednesday by New Jersey’s largest teacher’s union.

Eight New Jersey counties qualify under the CDC indoor mask guidance. Monmouth County is listed as having “high” transmission, while Atlantic, Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, Ocean, Passaic, and Union counties have “substantial” transmission.

Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration issued a statement Wednesday saying the state “strongly recommended that both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents wear masks in indoor settings when there is increased risk,” but the governor stopped short of issuing any policy changes to require masks again.

“Our metrics are trending in the wrong direction, and new data suggests the delta variant is more transmissible even among vaccinated individuals, which is why we are making this strong recommendation,” Murphy and state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a joint statement. “Fortunately, our numbers are a fraction of those in many other states, most of which have significantly lower vaccination rates. Should our numbers reach those levels, we reserve the right to take more drastic action, including a statewide mask mandate.”

The statement does not address schools, which resume classes in a few weeks.

The Garden State, home to one of the nation’s highest vaccination rates, is still recording numbers below the pandemic’s peaks, with daily deaths continuously in the single digits. Officials stress that vaccines are highly effective against the virus.

But CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the updated mask guidance is needed because new science shows some vaccinated people can still catch the variant and pass it to others who are not vaccinated. She also warned if the spread isn’t controlled, the virus could be “just a few mutations away” from possibly being able to get past vaccines completely.

There were 473 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or suspected cases across New Jersey’s 71 hospitals as of Tuesday night — 29 more than the previous night and the most since June 3. Hospitalizations have increased 54% since a month ago.

Of those hospitalized Tuesday, 85 were in intensive care (seven more than the night before), with 33 on ventilators (one less). There were 67 patients discharged.

New Jersey’s statewide transmission rose again, to 1.51, up from 1.5 the previous day. It’s the highest number since the first few weeks of the pandemic in spring 2020, when testing was scarce. Any number over 1 indicates that each new case is leading to more than one additional case and shows the state’s outbreak is expanding.

The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted on Friday, the most recent day available, was 3.92%.

Murphy said Monday that because of New Jersey’s high vaccination rate, officials are “relatively hopeful” that hospitalizations “will not return to where we were even a little more than two months ago.” But officials are calling on more people to get vaccinated to help curb the spread.

“Unless more of you who, for whatever reason, have not yet been vaccinated step forward and receive your doses, these risks remain,” the governor said.

More than 5.27 million people who live, work, or study in New Jersey have now been fully vaccinated, according to state data. There are more than 9 million residents in the state, including children under the age of 12, who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.

About 70% of the eligible population is vaccinated in New Jersey, ranking seventh in country, according to data from the CDC. But inoculations have slowed in recent months and about 4 million people in the state remain unvaccinated. The vaccinations are on top of any natural immunity people may have because they caught COVID-19 and survived.

New Jersey, an early coronavirus hotspot, has now reported 26,589 total COVID-19 deaths in slightly less than 17 months — 23,870 confirmed and 2,719 considered probable. That’s the most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S.

In all, the state has reported 904,447 total confirmed cases out of more than 14.6 million tests since it announced its first case March 4, 2020. The state has also reported 131,528 positive antigen tests, which are considered probable cases.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

People 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (30.9%), followed by those 50 to 64 (22.3%), 18 to 29 (20%), 5 to 17 (10.1%), 65 to 79 (10%), 80 and older (4.3%) and 0 to 4 (2.2%), according to state data.

The virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with pre-existing conditions. Nearly half the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (45.3%), followed by those 65 to 79 (33.6%), 50 to 64 (16.5%), 30 to 49 (4.1%), 18 to 29 (0.4%), 5 to 17 (0%) and 0 to 4 (0%).

At least 8,063 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.

As of Wednesday, there have been more than 195.6 million positive COVID-19 cases reported across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, with more than 4.18 million people having died from complications related to the virus. The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 34.6 million) and deaths (more than 611,300) than any other nation.

More than 3.9 billion vaccines have been administered globally.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @johnsb01.