By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
New Jersey on Friday reported 12 more deaths attributed to the coronavirus and 384 more positive tests as the state’s hospitalizations dropped dramatically and its rate of transmission fell again but remained above the critical benchmark that shows the virus is expanding.
The Garden State has now announced 15,860 lab-confirmed and probable deaths related to COVID-19, with 184,061 total cases, since the outbreak here began March 4.
Of those deaths, 14,007 are confirmed by lab results, while 1,853 are considered probable.
“I know we’re all getting a little fatigued — I am, too — but we cannot give coronavirus one more inch,” Gov. Phil Murphy said while announcing the new numbers during his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton. “Let’s keep doing what we need to get our numbers back down, and to get our restart and recovery back moving forward. … Keep wearing your masks, and no house parties.”
Seven of the 12 newly reported deaths Friday happened within the past five days — two on Aug. 2, one on Aug. 4, and four on Aug. 5, Murphy said. Of the rest, three occurred in July and two others before that as state officials continue to examine past deaths to confirm fatalities related to the virus.
Friday marks the 29th straight day New Jersey has reported fewer than 50 new deaths in one day and the seventh straight day it has reported fewer than 15. It also marks the seventh straight day the state has announced fewer than 500 new cases after seeing sudden upticks late last month.
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