N.J. reports 18 COVID deaths, 1,761 new cases as hospitalizations and rate of transmission dip – NJ.com

New Jersey on Saturday reported another 1,761 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 18 more confirmed deaths as the rate of transmission and hospitalizations dipped slightly.

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.

All of New Jerseys 21 counties are now listed as having high rates of coronavirus transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC is recommending people in all 21 counties wear masks for indoor public settings regardless of vaccination rates.

There were 994 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or suspected cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals on Friday night 28 fewer than the previous night. There were 165 patients discharged.

After three straight days where hospitalizations topped 1,000, the number dipped below the benchmark Saturday.

Of those hospitalized, 213 were in intensive care (five fewer than the night before), with 102 on ventilators (four more).

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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. New Jerseys numbers have not grown as dire as in other states. Officials credit this, in part, to the states relatively high vaccination rate.

More than 5.5 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 dropped again Saturday to 1.15 from 1.16 the previous day, 1.17 on Thursday, 1.19 on Wednesday, 1.21 on Tuesday and 1.23 on Monday. 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 26,844 total COVID-19 deaths in more than 17 months 24,122 confirmed and 2,722 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 947,298 total confirmed cases out of the more than 15 million PCR tests conducted since it announced its first case March 4, 2020. The state has also reported 139,182 positive antigen tests, which are considered probable cases.

Gov. Phil Murphy has said all options are on the table to fight the upticks in New Jersey and on Monday said teachers and state workers must show proof of vaccination by Oct. 18 or face regular testing.

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 Saturday, there have been more than 215.73 million positive COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, with more than 4.49 million people having died due to the virus. The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 38.72 million) and deaths (more than 636,800) than any other nation.

More than 5.16 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally.

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Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.

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N.J. reports 18 COVID deaths, 1,761 new cases as hospitalizations and rate of transmission dip - NJ.com