TRENTON, N.J. — A 7-month-old who died in New Jersey tested positive for COVID-19, Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said on Wednesday.
The test result came back positive after the infant’s death, however, Persichilli said health officials do not know yet what the primary cause of death was.
“Our thoughts are with the family,” Persichilli added.
Though the cause of death remains unclear, the infant is considered by health officials to be the youngest fatality possibly related to COVID-19 in the state, Gov. Phil Murphy said.
Persichilli said the state will not disclose any further information about the case out of respect for the family’s privacy.
Eight additional fatalities were confirmed to be related to COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 13,989.
There are 378 new cases, for a statewide total of 183,327 since March 4.
Of those sick, 784 people are hospitalized, 117 are in ICUs and 47 are on ventilators. The hospitalizations include 295 confirmed COVID-19 patients and 489 patients who are suspected to have the virus but test results are pending.
The state’s spot positivity rate for tests from Aug. 1 was 2.57% and the rate of transmission dropped to 1.32 — down from 1.48 on Monday.
“Our RT is still too high, meaning coronavirus continues to spread too quickly and too widely across New Jersey. We need to get this number back below 1,” Murphy said.
