Latest COVID-19 Numbers in New Jersey as U.S. Passes 1M in Deaths

A day after the U.S. recorded the one millionth death from COVID-19, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) authored a report that put the total loss of life associated with the coronavirus at as much as 15 million. 

The report comes as key metrics in New Jersey returned to notable numbers not reached since the end of the Winter surge.

The New Jersey Department of Health on May 5 reported seven new COVID-19 deaths and 3,479 new confirmed positive tests, the first day over 3,000 and highest one since Feb. 3. There were 604 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across the state’s 71 hospitals—surpassing the 600 threshold for the first time since March 3.

Transmission Pattern

Of the 604 patients in a Garden State hospital, 65 were in intensive care and 28 were on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 1.20 with the positivity rate for tests conducted on May 1 was 13.8%, both increasing from the day before. The pattern of the rate of transmission with the South region being noticeably lower then in the North and Central continued: 14.9% in the North, 14.4% in the Central region and 10.2% in the South. 

According to the W.H.O. report released May 5, the global excess mortality associated with COVID-19 was 14.9 million in the 24 months between January 2020 and December 2021, representing 9.5 million more deaths than those globally reported as directly attributable to COVID-19.

U.S. Numbers

In the United States, the W.H.O. estimated that roughly 930,000 more people than expected had died by the end of 2021, compared with the 820,000 COVID deaths that had been officially recorded over the same period. 

The report stated 20 countries, representing approximately 50% of the global population, account for over 80% of the estimated global excess mortality during this time period. These countries are Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Ukraine, and the U.S.

India, Russian Totals

Nearly a third of the excess deaths globally — 4.7 million — took place in India, according to the W.H.O. estimates. In some countries, flaws in government reports were widely known. Russia, for example, had reported roughly 310,000 COVID deaths by the end of 2021, but the W.H.O. experts indicated that the excess death toll was nearly 1.1 million. 

The W.H.O.’s calculations include people who died directly from COVID, from medical conditions complicated by COVID, or because they had ailments other than COVID but could not get needed treatment because of the pandemic.

The excess death estimates also take into account expected deaths that did not occur because of COVID restrictions, such as reductions in traffic accidents or isolation that prevented deaths from the flu and other infectious diseases.

COVID-19 cases:

New daily PCR cases: 3,479; Probable Cases: 939 Feb 3

Total Cases: 2,277,389 (1,961,425 PCR cases, 315,964 probable cases)

New Confirmed Deaths: 7 (2 probable deaths, 33,474 total deaths)

Rate of Transmission: 1.20, up from 1.19 a day before

Percent Positivity: 9.3% as of April 29; by region, the rate was 9.4% in the North, 10.0% in the Central region and 7.7% in the South.

By County:

Bergen County: 476 New Cases, 95 Probable Cases, 3,124 deaths, 325 probable deaths 

Essex County: 292 New Cases, 67 Probable Cases, 3,294 deaths, 313 probable deaths 

Hudson County: 252 New Cases, 54 Probable Cases, 2,498 total deaths, 222 probable deaths 

Morris County: 236 New Cases, 69 Probable Cases, 1,239 deaths, 303 probable deaths 

Passaic County: 176 New Cases, 39 Probable Cases, 2,134 deaths, 204 probable deaths 

Sussex County: 62 New Cases, 14 Probable Cases, 386 deaths, 89 probable deaths 

Warren County: 38 New Cases, 6 Probable Cases, 315 deaths, 27 probable deaths

Hospitals 

Hospitalizations: 604 (227 North, 214 Central and 163 South) March 6

Patients in intensive care units: 72

Patients on ventilators: 32

Patients discharged: 95

The state dashboard showed all 71 hospitals in the state reporting

Long-term Care Facilities

Facilities currently reporting one case: 219 (2,588 overall)

Current number of residents: 2,440 (48,717 overall)

Current number of staffers: 2,463 (39,051 overall)

Number of Deaths: 9,036 overall (8,568 reported by facilities, 139 staff deaths)

Vaccine 

Total number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in New Jersey: 14,463,435 (13,950,256 in-state, plus an additional 513,179 administered out-of-state)

Fully Vaccinated: 6,879,299 (6,673,178 in state and another 206,121 out of state). By county,  726,434 in Bergen County, 597,318 in Essex, 533,246 in Hudson, 388,746 in Morris, 362,117 in Passaic, 93,343 in Sussex, and 61,190 in Warren.

Booster Shots: 3,627,527 (2,003.258 Pfizer, 1,564,072 Moderna and 7,032 Johnson & Johnson)