N.J. reports 2,742 COVID cases, 24 deaths. Positive test counts are leveling off since surge. - NJ.com | By The Perfect Enemy

New Jersey health officials reported another 2,742 COVID-19 cases and 24 confirmed deaths on Friday. The average number of daily cases reported by the state is leveling off after it increased in the weeks after Thanksgiving.

The statewide rate of transmission on Friday was 1.08, the same since Wednesday. A transmission rate of 1 means the number of cases have leveled off, while anything above 1 indicates the outbreak is expanding.

The state’s seven-day average for confirmed positive tests is 1,866, down 10% from a week ago and up 51% from a month ago.

While positive tests have been steadily rising, New Jersey has not seen a repeat of the surge in cases that occurred in December 2021. The seven-day average for Dec. 30, 2021, was more than 16,000 confirmed positive tests.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers 15 of the state’s 21 counties to have “high” community levels of the coronavirus. The CDC considers only five counties to have “medium” community levels of COVID-19: Sussex, Morris, Warren, Essex, Somerset and Atlantic.

There were 1,491 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported across 69 of the state’s 70 hospitals Thursday night. Of those hospitalized, 191 are in intensive care and 65 are on ventilators.

The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted Monday, the most recent day for which data is available, was 15.99%.

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 more than 2.4 million total confirmed COVID-19 cases since it announced its first known case on March 4, 2020.

The Garden State has also recorded 464,000 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 35,510 COVID-19 deaths — 32,394 confirmed fatalities and 3,116 probable ones.

New Jersey has the 10th-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. — behind Arizona, Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, New Mexico, Tennessee and Michigan — as of Dec. 21.

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 9,929 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 387 facilities, there are 9,388 current cases among residents and 6,316 cases among staff, as of the latest data.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

There have been more than 659 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus database.

More than 6.68 million people have died because of the virus, the data shows. The U.S. has reported the most cumulative cases (more than 100 million) and deaths (at least 1.09 million) of any nation.

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Camille Furst may be reached at cfurst@njadvancemedia.com.

#Coronavirus, #LongTermCare

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Published on The Perfect Enemy at https://bit.ly/3ZeNcc7.