N.J. reports 1,527 COVID cases as state falls to 8th most coronavirus deaths per capita

New Jersey on Sunday reported two new COVID-19 deaths across the state and 1,527 new confirmed positive tests as the Garden State dropped below Arkansas as the state with the eighth-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. New Jersey’s seven-day average for confirmed cases was 1,752 on Sunday, up 3% from a week ago, and up 123% from a month ago.

New Jersey’s transmission rate was 1.14, according to the the latest number available. When the transmission rate is over 1, that means each new case is leading to at least one additional case and the outbreak is expanding.

Nearly all of New Jersey’s 21 counties were listed as having “low” rates of transmission, according to recently updated guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After months of all 21 counties being listed as “low,” Bergen and Morris counties have been elevated to “medium” transmission.

Healthy people in the low and medium areas are no longer recommended to wear masks. BA.2, the new strain of COVID-19, has been spreading in New Jersey for weeks, though at much lower rates than the omicron surge in December and January. Officials have said the omicron “stealth” subvariant appears to spread more easily but generally does not cause more severe illness.

New Jersey has reported 1,935,664 total confirmed COVID cases out of more than 17.5 million PCR tests conducted in the more than two years since the state reported its first known case March 4, 2020.

The Garden State has also recorded 309,254 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.