N.J. reports 1,641 COVID cases, 6 deaths; no counties remain at ‘high risk’ for transmission, CDC says

New Jersey on Friday reported another 1,641 confirmed COVID-19 cases and six confirmed deaths as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deem every county in the state to be at either “low” or “medium” risk for coronavirus transmission.

The statewide rate of transmission was .98 on Friday, down from 1.16 last week.

When the transmission rate is 1, that 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 fell to 1,508, an 11% decrease from a week ago and a 12% increase from a month ago.

TheCDC doesn’t deem any of the state’s 21 counties to be “high” risk category for coronavirus transmission as of Friday.

Seventeen counties are at “medium” risk: Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem, Cape May, Atlantic, Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, Union, Essex, Morris and Somerset.

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

There were 1,002 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported at 70 of the state’s 71 hospitals as of Thursday night. Of those hospitalized, 119 are in intensive care and 37 are on ventilators.

The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted Sunday, the most recent day for which data is available, was 13.50%.

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 419,922 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases, as of Friday. There are also numerous cases that likely never have 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 34,778 COVID-19 deaths — 31,662 confirmed fatalities and 3,116 probable ones as of Friday.

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 Wednesday. Last summer, the state had the most deaths per capita in the nation.

VACCINATION NUMBERS

More than 7.08 million people who work, live or study in New Jersey have reached fully vaccinated status. More than 7.9 million have received a first dose since vaccinations began in the state on Dec. 15, 2020.

More than 4.29 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one.

LONG-TERM CARE NUMBERS

At least 9,727 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 367 facilities, there are 7,607 current cases among residents and 6,864 cases among staff, as of the latest data.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

There have been more than 620 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.