New Jersey on Monday reported another 884 confirmed COVID-19 cases and three more confirmed deaths as the state’s seven-day average for newly confirmed positive tests dropped after more than a month of steady increases.
Still, all 21 counties in New Jersey now have either “high” or “substantial” rates of COVID-19 transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Under those risk levels means, the CDC is recommending people in all counties in the state wear masks indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status. New Jersey has not reinstalled an indoor statewide mask mandate, though health officials have strongly recommended people wear face coverings in settings considered “high risk.”
Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday announced the state will require masks in all schools at the start of the new academic year. But Murphy said Monday the state is “not yet” prepared to mandate masks again in all public places statewide.
“But as we’ve said many times, you have to leave all options on the table,” he said his latest COVID-19 briefing in Trenton.
The Garden State’s seven-day average for newly confirmed COVID-19 cases is now 1,214, up 32% from a week ago and 435% from a month ago as officials say the delta variant continues to drive increases, especially among unvaccinated people. But that average declined slightly from a day earlier as Monday marked the first time in a week the state announced fewer than 1,000 daily cases.
The delta variant accounted for 90% of positive tests sampled in New Jersey in the most recent four-week span available ending July 24, according to state data.
There were 651 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or suspected cases across New Jersey’s 71 hospitals on Sunday night, the same as the previous night. Hospitalizations have more than doubled in the last month, though remain well below the more than 3,800 patients at the height of the pandemic’s second wave in December.
Of those hospitalized Sunday, 117 were in intensive care (11 more than the night before), with 59 on ventilators (nine more). There were 82 patients discharged.
New Jersey’s statewide transmission decreased slightly Monday to 1.35, from 1.36 the day before. 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 Thursday, the most recent day available, was 5.18%, according to state data. For the week from July 30 through Thursday, the positivity rate was 5.68% based on more than 167,000 PCR tests.
Hospitalizations and deaths in New Jersey have not risen anywhere near the pandemic’s peaks in New Jersey, and numbers overall here are not as bad as other states. That, officials say, is due at least in part to the state’s relatively high vaccination rate.
More than 5.36 million people who live, work, or study in New Jersey have now been fully vaccinated in more than seven months since inoculations began, according to state data. About 4 million residents remain unvaccinated.
Murphy said Monday that of New Jersey’s 4,332 positive tests between July 20-26, nearly 18% were so-called breakthrough cases of those who had been fully vaccinated, which is up from previous weeks.
But he said of the 378 coronavirus patients admitted to the state’s hospitals in that time, 97% were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. And of the state’s 21 coronavirus deaths in that time, all were either of unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated people — the second consecutive week of no deaths among vaccinate people.
“If you are still on the fence as to whether or not to get vaccinated, please take these numbers to heart,” Murphy said. “The vaccines work.”
MORE: No new COVID deaths among fully vaccinated in N.J., but positive tests are up, Murphy says
State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said the state’s predictive models show the state is likely to record about a thousands or so cases a day “for a while” during this surge. But, she said, officials believe “our hospitals have the capacity to take care of people.”
“Hospitalizations should be higher than what we see right now, but not totally through the roof,” Persichilli said.
An early coronavirus hotspot, New Jersey has now reported 26,650 total COVID-19 deaths in slightly more than 17 months — 23,930 confirmed and 2,720 considered probable. The probable deaths, which are revised weekly, increased by one on Monday. That’s the most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S.
In all, the state of 9.2 million residents has reported 917,349 total confirmed cases out of more than 14.7 million PCR tests since it announced its first case March 4, 2020. The state has also reported 132,734 positive antigen tests, which are considered probable cases.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
Monday’s briefing comes three days after Murphy announced New Jersey will require masks in all schools when the new academic year begins in a few weeks. He took issue Monday with critics opposed to school masking, noting that 13 children are currently being treated for COVID-19 in the state’s hospitals, two of whom are in intensive care.
“We are not going to sacrifice the health of any child, any educator, any family, or any community,” the governor said.
MORE: N.J. school mask opponents ‘willing to sacrifice our kids for politics.’ Gov. Murphy fires back at anti-mask protesters.
At least 8,067 of New Jersey’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 Monday, there have been nearly 203 million positive COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, with more than 4.29 million people having died due to the virus. The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 35.7 million) and deaths (more than 616,800) than any other nation.
More than 4.43 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @johnsb01.