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According to state health department data, 7,830 people tested positive for the virus in New Jersey during the week ending on Saturday, Dec. 30. That's more than seven times as many reported about a month ago, when there were 969 cases in the week ending on Saturday, Dec. 2.
The number of patients in New Jersey hospitals has also risen in the last month, with 1,380 people reported in hospitals with COVID-19 on Tuesday, Jan. 2. That has more than doubled from the 571 hospital patients with COVID-19 on Saturday, Dec. 2.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in New Jersey are at their highest level in almost a year. The state reported 1,396 patients with the virus on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023. The hospitalization level is still much lower than the peak of the original Omicron wave in January 2022, when as many as 6,059 New Jersey patients had COVID-19.
In late December, the CDC said the JN.1 variant accounted for nearly half of all COVID-19 cases in the U.S. That number was even higher in New Jersey, where JN.1 made up nearly 57 percent of the Garden State's cases.
Along the Jersey Shore, Ocean and Monmouth counties each reported around 2,000 cases in the last full week of 2023. Ocean County saw a rise from 90 to 565 weekly cases during December. Monmouth County reported a slightly sharper increase from 77 to 550 weekly cases.
Atlantic County reported 179 cases during the week of Saturday, Dec. 30. That was significantly higher than the 28 cases seen in the week of Saturday, Dec. 2.
Cape May County has the lowest case count in New Jersey. The county reported 27 cases for the week of Saturday, Dec. 30, up from just two cases reported four weeks ago.
Click here for more information on COVID-19 in New Jersey.
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