What to Know
- In New Jersey, roughly 1 in 500 residents was diagnosed with COVID-19 over the last seven days.
- On Tuesday, New Jersey reported 3,877 new coronavirus cases and 21 new deaths.
- New restrictions targeting indoor dining hours and indoor youth sports take effect Thursday for an unspecified time.
A day after Gov. Phil Murphy announced new restrictions on the hours that restaurants and bars can be open, New Jersey reported nearly 4,000 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday as the “devastating” second wave of coronavirus hits the Garden State.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday announced 3,877 new cases to bring the total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic to more than 260,000. He also announced 21 new deaths to bring the confirmed death total to 14,661.
“These numbers are devastating,” Murphy said in a tweet. “We are still in the midst of a pandemic. Wear a mask. Social distance. Stay safe.“
New Jersey is experiencing its biggest viral increases in months. Murphy took action Monday, targeting late-night dine-in at bars and restaurants, bar seating and interstate youth sports with new coronavirus restrictions that will take effect across the state on Thursday.
It is a far more contained approach than the total shutdown Murphy ordered in the spring, he said – but one necessitated by tripling hospitalizations, soaring positivity rates and daily case numbers that haven't been seen since spring.
"This is not forever and always,” the first-term Democrat said Monday. “We basically have a six-month window to beat the fatigue back and beat the virus into the ground."
New Jersey's new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday were roughly eight times the daily numbers it was seeing at the end of September. That was only six weeks ago. Tuesday's report marked the highest new daily case total since April 20; for perspective, roughly one out of every 500 New Jersey residents was diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last seven days.
North Jersey counties are reporting the most new cases with Essex County alone reporting 675 new cases overnight. Statewide, total hospitalizations are up to mid-June levels and the daily death reports, which increase slower than the other metrics, are steadily rising.
Murphy told New Jerseyeans Monday there was some good news -- that a vaccine was on the horizon and he anticipates broad distribution by the spring. He said he has a plan ready should that timeframe hold and urged the people of his state, "let's get through the remainder of this fall and winter together."
