N.J. reports 2,939 COVID cases, 10 deaths. Transmission rate continues to drop.

New Jersey on Thursday reported another 2,939 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 10 new confirmed deaths as the statewide rate of transmission continues to decline below the key benchmark.

The state’s rate of transmission was 0.91 on Thursday, according to the state Department of Health, down from 0.92 on Wednesday and 1.01 at the beginning of the month.

A transmission rate below 1 is an indication that each new case is leading to less than one additional case. When the transmission rate is 1, that means cases have leveled off at the current numbers. Anything above 1 means the outbreak is expanding.

New Jersey’s seven-day average for confirmed positive tests is 2,379, a 7% decrease from a week ago and 2% decrease from a month ago.

There were 1,125 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported across the state’s 71 hospitals Thursday. Of those hospitalized, 136 are in intensive care and 46 are on ventilators.

The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted Saturday — the most recent day with available data — was 17.46%.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers positivity rates above 10% to be “high.” However, the positivity rate is substantially lower than its peak of 40.83% on Jan. 1 during the height of the omicron variant.

Fourteen counties remain in the high-risk category for transmission as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They are Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, Somerset, Union, Morris and Passaic.

Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Salem and Sussex counties are in the medium-risk category. Warren County is considered low risk. The CDC recommends that residents in high-risk counties wear masks indoors.

TOTAL NUMBERS

New Jersey has reported 2.24 million total confirmed COVID-19 cases since the state reported its first known case March 4, 2020.

The Garden State has also recorded 389,758 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases. And there are numerous cases that have likely never 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 34,385 COVID-19 deaths — 31,285 confirmed fatalities and 3,100 probable ones.

New Jersey has the ninth-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. — behind Mississippi, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, New Mexico and Arkansas — as of Friday. Last summer, the state had the most deaths per capita in the nation.

VACCINATION NUMBERS

More than 7 million people who work, live or study in the Garden State have reached received an initial course of vaccination.

Over 7.89 million have received a first dose since vaccinations began in the state on Dec. 15, 2020.

More than 4.19 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one.

Regulators have paused plans to authorize a second booster shot for adults under 50 this summer. Instead, they hope to revamp vaccines to target emerging subvariants by the fall.

LONG-TERM CARE NUMBERS

At least 9,488 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 state data on Thursday.

Of the active outbreaks at 394 facilities, there are 5,666 current cases among residents and 5,960 cases among staff, as of the latest data.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of Thursday, there have been more than 587 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus database.

More than 6.4 million people have died because of the virus, the data shows.

Japan reported the most cases in the past 28 days, with more than 4.9 million as of Thursday. The U.S. reported the second-most cases in that same period, with 3.3 million.

The U.S. has reported the most cumulative COVID-19 cases (more than 92.5 million) and deaths (at least 1.03 million) of any nation.

There have been more than 12 billion vaccine doses administered globally.

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Camille Furst may be reached at cfurst@njadvancemedia.com. Find her on Twitter @CamilleFurst.

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