Exactly two years after the state announced its first known case, New Jersey on Friday reported another 17 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 1,153 positive tests, while Gov. Phil Murphy announced he'll end the state's latest public-health emergency on Monday as officials continue to say a less dire, endemic era of the illness is arriving.Exactly two years after the state announced its first known case, New Jersey on Friday reported another 17 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 1,153 positive tests, while Gov. Phil Murphy announced he'll end the state's latest public-health emergency on Monday as officials continue to say a less dire, endemic era of the illness is arriving.
Still, they stressed the coronavirus will continue to be among us and residents should prepare for future surges.
Murphy delivered the update during his 257th and final regular COVID-19 briefing in a pandemic that has killed more than 30,000 New Jersey residents, battered the state's economy, and upended countless aspects of life since the state reported its first positive case 730 days ago.
?This anniversary is the right time for us to end these in-person briefings,? Murphy said during the event at the Trenton War Memorial. ?As coronavirus moves from pandemic to endemic, and as we transition away from crisis management to a more normal way of life, it is the right time.?
MORE: N.J.'s COVID public health emergency to end Monday, Murphy says
Murphy thanked New Jerseyans for their ?dedicated work to protect yourselves, your families, and your communities.?
?I know you are exhausted, both mentally and physically, and ready to return to normal,? he said. ?And truth be told, so are we.?
?We've persevered and fought and persevered and fought some more,? the governor continued. ?That's why we're at this point today. With all we have done to ensure the preparedness of our health care system and with the advent of both the vaccines and treatments, we are ready to move forward and to not live our lives in fear.?
Murphy also broke into tears as he paid tribute to ?the more than 30,000 lives we've lost.?
?For all of them, let's do one more moment of silence,? he said.
Gov. Murphy's last Covid-19 briefingGov. Phil Murphy (right) holds his latest and last coronavirus briefing Friday at the Trenton War Memorial. To his left is state Health Commissioner Judith PersichilliAristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media
Officials said said the state and country now have a much better grasp on the illness because of vaccinations, natural immunity, better treatment, and more knowledge of mitigation ? though doesn't mean the virus has or will disappear completely.
?We think we can responsibly live a normal life with COVID, but an endemic means it remains in our midst,? Murphy said.
The Garden State announced its first known positive test March 4, 2020, though it's likely the virus was here before then. That set off a whirlwind of panic, horror, and uncertainty as New Jersey ? and neighboring New York City ? were one of the early U.S. epicenters of the pandemic.
In the two years since then, New Jersey has reported more than 1,876,729 million total confirmed cases out of more than 17.3 million PCR tests conducted.
The state has also recorded 296,042 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases. And there are countless cases that have likely never been counted.
New Jersey, a state of 9.2 million residents, has reported 32,999 COVID-19 deaths in that time ? 30,031 confirmed fatalities and 2,968 probable fatalities. That total is akin the entire populations of Lawrence, Long Branch, and Livingston.
New Jersey has the fourth-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. ? behind Mississippi, Arizona and Alabama ? as of the latest data reported Tuesday.
Many deaths came rapidly in the early months of the pandemic.
?We have made incredible progress since those dark days,? state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Friday.
The recent, record-setting wave driven by the omicron variant continues to recede. New Jersey's seven-day average for confirmed cases fell to 992 on Friday, down 7% from a week ago and 68% from a month ago. Before Thursday, the state's daily average had not been below 1,000 since early August.
There were 708 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across 70 of New Jersey's 71 hospitals as of Thursday night. One hospital did not report data. Hospital levels have plummeted in recent weeks after peaking at 6,089 on Jan. 10 during the omicron wave.
There were at least 124 people discharged in that same 24-hour period Thursday, according to state data. Of those hospitalized, 124 were in intensive care and 82 were on ventilators.
The statewide daily positivity rate as of Saturday was 4.06%. The state on Friday also reported 324 probable cases from rapid antigen testing at medical sites.
The statewide transmission rate Friday remained 0.77. Any rate below 1 indicates the outbreak is on the decline with each new case leading to fewer than one additional case. When the rate is 1, that means the outbreak has leveled off at its current numbers
All of New Jersey's 21 counties are currently listed as having ?medium or ?low? rates of transmission, according to recently updated guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seven counties ? Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem ? are at the medium level. The rest are at low.
Healthy people in the low and medium categories are no longer recommended to wear masks.
New Jersey is lifting its statewide mask mandate in schools and child care centers on Monday, the same day children and drivers on school buses can also stop wearing masks under updated guidance.
Murphy has largely ended most other mask mandates, though face coverings are still required on mass transit, in health-care settings, and in state government buildings. He said Friday the state will likely drop the requirement in government buildings ?sooner than later.?
The governor signed an executive order Friday afternoon to lift the public health emergency Monday, as well. He said existing orders, directives and waivers related to the state's oversight of vaccination, testing, and coordination with health care systems will continue.
But the state's requirement that workers in health care centers, prisons, and other ?high-risk? congregant settings has not changed. Those workers have until May 11 to be vaccinated and boosted, under an extended deadline announced Thursday.
State Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, on Friday urged Murphy to lift the ?overbearing vaccine mandates? now that the health emergency is almost over.
?Nobody should be fired from their job because they want to make their own health care decisions,? Bucco said.
Early in the pandemic, Murphy ordered widespread business closings and capacity to fight the virus' spread. He gradually lifted those over the last two years.
About a third of the state's small businesses have closed in that time.
Republicans have repeatedly hammered Murphy for being too draconian with his measures. The governor has repeatedly said his goal is to save as many lives as possible.
Debates over masks and emergency orders have raged nationwide and colored November's elections, when Murphy won a second term by a closer-than-expected margin and Democrats maintained control fo the state Legislature but lost seven seats to Republicans.
Murphy has also been heavily criticized for his administration's handling of the pandemic in New Jersey's nursing homes and longterm care facilities.
At least 9,295 of the state's COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.
There were active outbreaks at 355 facilities, resulting in 9,187 current cases among residents and 10,535 cases among staff as of the latest data.
A new strain of COVID-19 ? known as BA2 ? has started to spread in small numbers in New Jersey. Officials have said the strain appears to be less lethal than previous variants.
For the week ending Feb. 12, the omicron variant accounted for 93% of positive tests sampled, followed by BA.2.
Ed Lifshitz, director of the state Department of Health communicable disease service, said the state's softened stance on the pandemic ?doesn't mean we're putting out a sign that says mission accomplished and the virus is gone.?
He noted the state is still reporting more than 1,000 cases a day, while comparing the new situation to the weather.
?Tomorrow the weather's supposed to get a whole lot nicer, a whole lot warmer,? Lfishitz said. ?To me, at least, it seems like we've had a very long, cold, dark winter, and believe me, I'm looking forward to some warm weather, putting away my coat, going outside, having a nice walk
?But I'm not putting away my coat,? he added. ?I'm not throwing away my coat. I know that it may very well get cold again.?
Persichilli sad a big goal will be to focus on vulnerable residents.
?It will be important we all continue to be aware of the activity levels and adjust our behavior accordingly,? the health commissioner said.
Murphy alluded to a word he often used to denounce people who didn't follow COVID-19 orders early on.
?Be safe, be smart, enjoy the oncoming spring, enjoy getting together with family and friends, and don't be a knucklehead,? he said.
Gov. Murphy's last Covid-19 briefingGov. Phil Murphy (left) holds his latest and last coronavirus briefing Friday at the Trenton War Memorial. To his right is Col. Patrick Callahan, the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media
VACCINATION NUMBERSMore than 6.77 million of the 8.46 million eligible people who live, work, or study in New Jersey have received the initial course of vaccinations and more than 7.71 million have received a first dose since vaccines began here on Dec. 15, 2020.
More than 3.12 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one.
Murphy has stressed the state needs to get more residents vaccinated and boosted to continue to keep the virus at bay.
Officials continue to emphasize that while vaccinated and boosted residents can still catch the virus, they are less likely to spread it and far less likely to become hospitalized or die ? especially those who have gotten booster shots. That also helps alleviate pressure on hospitals, they say.
The state does not issue daily breakdowns of the vaccine status of those who test positive, are hospitalized, or died because of the virus. Instead, officials release figures for periods of time.
For the four-week span from Jan. 23 to Feb. 19, New Jersey reported 63,339 total COVID-19 cases, leading to 2,136 hospitalizations, and 277 deaths.
Among the 2.29 million residents unvaccinated or who haven't completed the initial course of vaccination, there were 34,627 cases in that span. Those cases led to 1,153 hospitalizations and 123 deaths.
Among 3.44 million residents having received only an initial vaccine course (one dose for the Johnson & Johnson or two doses of Pfizer or Moderna), there were 17,233 breakthrough cases that led to 592 hospitalizations and 90 deaths.
Among the 3.02 million people who received booster shots on top of their initial vaccine course, there were 11,479 breakthrough cases that led to 391 hospitalizations and 64 deaths.
SCHOOL NUMBERSFor the week ending Feb. 20, with around 58% of schools reporting data, another 1,894 COVID-19 cases were reported among staff (389) and students (1,505) across New Jersey's schools.
But Murphy has said the state is seeing ?the rates of in-school transmission now down to where they were pre-Omicron.?
Since the start of the academic year, there have been 100,375 students and 27,800 school staff members who have contracted COVID-19 in New Jersey, though the state has never had more than two-thirds of the school districts reporting data in any week.
The state provides total student and staff cases separately from those deemed to be in-school transmission, which is narrowly defined as three or more cases linked through contact tracing.
New Jersey has reported 511 total in-school outbreaks including 3,469 students and staff.
GLOBAL NUMBERSAs of Friday, there have been more than 442 million COVID-19 cases reported across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, with more than 5.98 million people having died due to the virus.
The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 79.2 million) and deaths (more than 956,300) of any nation.
There have been more than 10.5 billion vaccine doses administered globally.
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