'Substantial' COVID Transmission In NJ Counties As Metrics Drop

NEW JERSEY - Many New Jersey counties still have substantial COVID-19 transmission even as key metrics have dropped amid the ongoing pandemic, according to the latest State Profile Report by federal officials.

The report, released Tuesday, identifies several counties as being in the “high” zone for community transmission, showing that New Jersey is not completely out of the woods in the COVID crisis. The report is based on data for the week ending April 29th.

Gov. Phil Murphy will address the latest COVID data during a 1 p.m news conference on Wednesday. Read more: WATCH LIVE: Gov. Murphy Issues NJ Coronavirus, Reopenings Update

Other levels are orange, or "substantial" transmission; yellow, or "moderate; and blue, or "low." No counties meet the criteria currently for yellow or blue.

Two South Jersey counties are in the red zone: Camden and Gloucester. All other counties in Central and South Jersey and the Jersey Shore are in the orange zone (see the criteria for determining transmission rates below).

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.

The new report comes as Murphy has now reopened significant portions of the state's economy. Capacity restrictions will be removed in many areas of New Jersey life over the next two weeks as the state nears its goal of fully vaccinating 4.7 million people by June. Read more: 'Major' COVID-19 Reopening In NJ: Here's What's Planned

The report shows declines in all areas except for the number of hospitals with staff shortages, which jumped 14 percent from the previous week.

Statewide, there were 55 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending April 29th per 100,000 people, down 79 percent from the previous week. COVID-19 related deaths are also down to 2.6 deaths per 100,000 people, a drop of 8 percent.

Statewide, 71.1 percent of the state's 65-and-older population is fully vaccinated while the entire population is 36.1 percent, according to the report.

President Biden, however, has directed pharmacies to provide vaccines now that the national immunization rate is slowing. Read more: 7 Percent Of New Jersey Fails To Show Up For 2nd Shot

These South Jersey, Central Jersey and Jersey Shore counties are among the top 12 New Jersey counties based on the number of new cases in the last three weeks:

• Middlesex
• Monmouth
• Ocean
• Camden
• Burlington
• Gloucester

Some counties are in the "orange" zone for new deaths, which means 2 to 4.9 new fatalities per 100,000 people for the week ending April 29th.

Here's how federal officials determined transmission rates:

• High transmission (red): Counties that during the last week reported 100 or more cases per 100,000 population or a lab test positivity at or above 10.0 percent.
• Substantial transmission (orange): Counties that during the last week reported 50 to 99 cases per 100,000 population or a lab test positivity from 8 to 9.9 percent.
• Moderate transmission (yellow): Counties that during the last week reported from 10 to 49 cases per 100,000 population or a lab test positivity from 5 to 7.9 percent.
• Low transmission: Counties that during the last week reported from 0 to 9 cases per 100,000 population or a lab test positivity from zero to 4.9 percent.

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.

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 and Anthony Bellano.