From NJ Spotlight News

Saturday saw New Jersey hit a record high in new cases, with more than 4,000 additional COVID-19 reported. The last time the state topped 4,000 was in April. (Above chart.)

The rise in hospitalizations was also unrelenting, with 2,000 patients reported for the first time since the early spring. That remains well below New Jersey’s pandemic peak of 8,000 hospitalizations.

Statewide, 26 deaths were reported, also up in recent weeks but also a small fraction of the spring peaks when more than 400 deaths were reported in a day.

The latest positivity rate on tests administrated dropped slightly, but the transmission rate rose again to 1.35.

Nationwide, it was the fourth consecutive day where the United States set a new record for new infections

For the country as a whole, cumulative cases now approach 10.9 million, after another record-setting 177,000-plus added overnight, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
 

Gov. Phil Murphy planned to meet this weekend in an “emergency summit” with governors of adjoining states to discuss coordinating their responses and restrictions to best stem the spread of the virus. 

The other states are New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

No new COVID restrictions have been announced, but Murphy this week pulled back on the reins a bit, ordering bars and restaurants statewide to close their doors to indoor patrons at 10 a.m., while calling an immediate halt to all bar-side service.

Murphy also issued an executive order allowing municipalities and counties the option to order non-essential businesses within their jurisdictions to shut down after 8 p.m.

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