By Brent Johnson and Len Melisurgo NJ.com
New Jersey on Wednesday reported 53 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus and 335 new positive tests, while the rate of transmission — a statistic that has state officials worried of late — rose slightly again.
The new numbers come as Gov. Phil Murphy announced the state will now require people to wear masks outdoors in public when they can’t practice social distancing.
Murphy also announced that restaurants and bars in the Garden State that are able to open 50% of their wall space can allow indoor dining, saying the air flow is better there than in closed spaces.
New Jersey has now reported 15,423 known deaths related to COVID-19 — 13,476 lab-confirmed and 1,947 probable — with 174,039 known cases in the little more than four months since the the state’s first case was announced March 4.
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This comes as the U.S. has surpassed 3 million cases, with about 1 million coming in the last 28 days as numerous states have seen a surge in new positive tests.
New Jersey — once a coronavirus hotspot — has seen its number of daily new cases and deaths, as well as hospitalizations, fall significantly since peaking in April and remain relatively steady in recent days.
But officials are concerned the Garden State’s transmission rate recently jumped past the critical mark of 1 after falling below it for 10 weeks. That means, on average, every newly infected resident is now passing COVID-19 to at least one other person.
Officials said Wednesday the rate of transmission had climbed from 1.05 to 1.10.
“This is, again, why we are taking the steps today to require everyone to wear masks and face coverings when outside,” Murphy said during his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton. “We have to have both a lower daily positivity and a rate below one. This is not either/or, this is and/both. It’s the only way we can meaningfully slow the rate of spread of COVID-19 to save lives and not see our progress backslide.”
