N.J. reports 661 COVID cases, 4 deaths. 14 counties have ‘low’ community levels of virus, CDC says – NJ.com

New Jersey health officials on Friday reported another 661 COVID-19 cases and four new confirmed deaths.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers seven counties in the state to have “medium” community levels of the coronavirus: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem. The remaining 14 counties have “low” community levels of COVID-19.
Case counts and hospitalization numbers by region determine each county’s community level, according to the CDC.
The statewide rate of transmission is 0.89. A transmission rate of 1 means the number of cases have leveled off, while anything below 1 means the outbreak is declining.
The state’s seven-day average for confirmed positive tests is 520 — down 22% from a week ago and down 56% from a month ago.
There were 805 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported across 69 of the state’s 70 hospitals Thursday night. Of those hospitalized, 115 are in intensive care and 36 are on ventilators.
The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted Saturday, the most recent day for which data is available, was 5.92%.
TOTAL NUMBERS
New Jersey has reported more than 2.5 million total confirmed COVID-19 cases since it announced its first known case of the virus on March 4, 2020.
The Garden State has also recorded 499,410 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases. 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 36,019 COVID-19 deaths — 32,903 confirmed fatalities and 3,116 probable ones.
New Jersey had the 10th-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. as of Feb. 27.
VACCINATION NUMBERS
More than 7.1 million people who work, live or study in New Jersey have reached fully vaccinated status. More than 8 million people 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 10,118 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 309 facilities, there are 10,180 current cases among residents and 6,554 cases among staff, according to the latest data.
GLOBAL NUMBERS
There have been more than 676 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus database.
More than 6.8 million people have died because of the virus, the data shows.
The U.S. has reported the most cumulative cases (more than 103 million) and deaths (at least 1.1 million) of any nation.
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Camille Furst may be reached at cfurst@njadvancemedia.com.