'High' COVID Transmission Across NJ; 21 Counties In 'Red': Feds

NEW JERSEY — All 21 of New Jersey's counties are now in the "red" zone for coronavirus transmission severity and at least 12 have had steady increases in cases, according to the latest State Profile Report by federal officials.

The report, released late Tuesday, now identifies all of the state's 21 counties as being in the red, or "high," zone for community transmission. Other levels are orange, or "substantial" transmission; yellow, or "moderate; and blue, or "low."

That means the transmission rate in New Jersey has risen above the too-high 1.0 level, and anyone with the coronavirus is likely spreading the virus to more than one other person — a sign that the virus is still community-spread, despite widespread vaccine distribution. The current rate is 1.09.

Murphy addressed the state's COVID-19 status and new coronavirus guidelines for schools during a news conference on Wednesday. Read more: WATCH: Gov. Murphy Issues NJ COVID, Vaccines, Schools Update

The weekly State Profile Report, made in collaboration with the White House and other federal agencies, measures COVID-19 risk through metrics such as new cases per 100,000 people, percent changes in new cases and positivity rate. The report was previously released by the White House Coronavirus Task Force under the Trump administration.

Beginning with the report released on Tueaday, the federal government no longer provides "county and metro alerts" that had shown a declining number of New Jersey counties suffering from the worst effects of the coronavirus outbreak. Now the government is basing its alerts on community transmission or spread.

Also, since the task force's previous weekly report, the coronavirus risk rose in New Jersey. The number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 rose by its highest level in weeks — 11 percent.

These are the top 12 counties based on the number of new cases in the last three weeks:

• Bergen
• Monmouth
• Essex
• Hudson
• Middlesex
• Ocean
• Morris
• Union
• Passaic
• Camden
• Burlington
• Somerset

The federal report is not the same as the state's COVID Activity Report that's been released by the Murphy administration every week and helps determine if schools will shift to remote or hold in-person instruction.

Despite the sizable distribution of vaccines, the state's most recent report also shows that New Jersey has backslid in its management of COVID-19. Read more: NJ Counties Backslide In Coronavirus Crisis: Here's Where

The federal and state reports come as New Jersey reopened parts of its economy for the first time in weeks. But Murphy also said he's not going to announce any more reopenings anytime soon because of the spread of COVID-19 virus variants. Read more: Gov. Murphy: Surge In COVID Variants In NJ Will Delay Reopenings

The latest federal report shows a 0.5 percent increase in the test positivity rate. The state's test positivity rate stands at 8.2 as of Tuesday, the report says.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations in New Jersey are also up. The federal report notes there were 2,764 new hospitalizations for the seven-day period ending March 19. That's a 3 percent increase from the previous seven-day period and an 18 percent jump over a month ago.

Under the Trump administration, these reports were not made public. Instead, they were obtained by The Center for Public Integrity.

After months of being hidden from public view, weekly reports sent to New Jersey by the White House coronavirus response team have a new, publicly accessible home.

Cyrus Shahpar, COVID-19 data director for the Biden administration, announced the move in a tweet in January.

“First post: We are now sharing previously hidden weekly COVID-19 state profile reports with the public,” Shahpar tweeted.

The release of the weekly state reports is the latest move by the Biden administration, officials said, to bring more transparency back to the White House.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, also said Americans should expect a “transparent, open and honest” response to the coronavirus under Biden.

The latest New Jersey report does not include a summary or recommendations that are typically provided by the task force.

With reporting by Kara Seymour