1,477 new cases, 2 COVID deaths announced in N.J. on Sunday – NJ.com

New Jersey on Sunday reported another 1,477 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2 more confirmed deaths, while statewide coronavirus hospitalizations were above 900 for the fourth straight day.

All 21 counties now have a high rate of virus transmission, according to a daily tracker from to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Under the agencys guidance, people in all 21 counties are recommended to wear masks in indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status.

The Garden States seven-day average for newly confirmed positive tests increased Saturday to 1,555. Thats 7% more than a week ago and 214% higher than a month ago. Its the states highest average since May 3.

The delta variant accounted for 96% of cases in New Jersey based on a sampling of positive tests over the last two weeks of July, according to state data.

There were 927 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or suspected cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals on Saturday night four more than the previous night and the most since May 14, when there were 930 people hospitalized. There were 136 patients discharged Saturday.

Of those hospitalized, 187 were in intensive care (three fewer than the night before), with 85 on ventilators (10 more).

Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to announce soon that New Jersey will require teachers to be vaccinated against the virus. It wasnt immediately clear whether Murphy would allow teachers to opt out in exchange for regular testing, which is being done in California.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter| Homepage

Though numbers have been climbing, hospitalizations and deaths in New Jersey have not risen anywhere near the pandemics peaks. More than 3,800 patients were hospitalized during the second peak in December. And New Jerseys numbers overall are not as bad as other states. That, officials say, is due at least in part to the states relatively high vaccination rate.

More than 5.47 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.

New Jerseys statewide transmission rate held steady at 1.25 for the second day in a row. But any number over 1 indicates that each new case is leading to more than one additional case and shows the states outbreak is expanding.

An early coronavirus hotspot, New Jersey has now reported 26,752 total COVID-19 deaths in more than 17 months 24,031 confirmed and 2,721 considered probable, according to the state dashboard. Thats the most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S.

In all, the state of 9.2 million residents has reported 937,187 total confirmed cases out of more than 14.91 million PCR tests since it announced its first case March 4, 2020. The state has also reported 137,003 positive antigen tests, which are considered probable cases.

Murphy said last week that of New Jerseys 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.

As of Sunday there have been more than 211 million positive COVID-19 cases reported across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, with more than 4.4 million people having died due to the virus. The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 37.6 million) and deaths (more than 628,300) than any other nation.

Nearly 4.89 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally.

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Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.

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1,477 new cases, 2 COVID deaths announced in N.J. on Sunday - NJ.com