N.J. reports 1,562 new COVID cases, 8 deaths. Seven-day average for positive tests continue to drop.

New Jersey on Friday reported another 1,562 COVID-19 cases and eight confirmed deaths as the average rate of positive tests continues to drop.

The statewide rate of transmission was 0.90 on Friday, state health officials reported.

A transmission rate of 1 means cases have leveled off at the current numbers, while anything above 1 indicates the outbreak is expanding.

The state’s seven-day average for confirmed coronavirus positive cases is 1,362 — a 10% decrease from a week ago and a 5% decrease from a month ago.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t currently consider any of the state’s 21 counties to be in the “high” risk category for coronavirus transmission.

Sixteen counties are considered to have “medium” risk of transmission: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Essex, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren.

The remaining five counties — Bergen, Cumberland, Hudson, Mercer and Passaic — are designated “low” risk.

There were 1,077 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported at the state’s 71 hospitals as of Thursday night. Of those hospitalized, 118 are in intensive care and 43 are on ventilators.

The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted Sunday, the most recent day for which data is available, was 12.4%.

The CDC considers positivity rates above 10% to be “high.” New Jersey’s statewide positivity rate is substantially lower than its peak of 40.83% on Jan. 1 during the height of the omicron variant.

TOTAL NUMBERS

New Jersey has reported 2.3 million total confirmed COVID-19 cases since it announced its first known case on March 4, 2020.

The Garden State has also recorded 422,890 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases, as of Friday. There are also numerous cases that were likely never counted, including at-home positive tests that are not included in the state’s numbers.

The state of 9.2 million residents has reported 34,815 COVID-19 deaths — 31,699 confirmed fatalities and 3,116 probable ones as of Thursday.

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

VACCINATION NUMBERS

More than 7.09 million people who work, live or study in New Jersey have reached fully vaccinated status. More than 7.95 million have received a first dose since vaccinations began in the state on Dec. 15, 2020.

More than 4.3 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one.

LONG-TERM CARE NUMBERS

At least 9,738 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 the most recent state data.

Of the active outbreaks at 365 facilities, there are 7,894 current cases among residents and 6,902 cases among staff, as of the latest data.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

There have been more than 624 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe as of Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus database. More than 6.5 million people have died because of the virus, the data shows.

The U.S. has reported the most cumulative cases (more than 96 million) and deaths (at least 1.06 million) of any nation.

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