TOPLINE
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday an uptick in the rate of transmission of Covid-19 to its highest level in ten weeks, warning of “several outbreaks” linked to travel from hot spots rapidly emerging across the nation, especially in southern and western states that are now consistently reporting record daily case numbers.
People visit the beach on July 3, 2020, in Atlantic City. New Jersey beaches have reopened for the ... [+]
KEY FACTS
The rate of transmission reached 1.03, meaning, “For every new case of Covid-19 we’re seeing, that case is leading to at least one other new case,” Murphy tweeted. “We need to do more.”
Murphy highlighted Hoboken as one of the state’s outbreaks, reporting that 12 of 13 new cases in the city were “directly tied to travel to known hot spots.”
One of the early hot spots for the coronavirus in the United States, New Jersey now ranks 40th among U.S. states for new daily cases, and took further precautions last week by postponing its plans to resume indoor dining due to rising cases in other states.
Numerous states like Texas, Arizona and California are regularly breaking its record in daily coronavirus cases, with Florida in particular reaching 11,458 infections on Saturday, nearly beating New York’s peak of 12,274 in April.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, warned on June 26 during the White House’s first coronavirus task force briefing in nearly two months that areas of the country that aren’t currently seeing a significant rise in cases were still vulnerable given outbreaks elsewhere.
Last week, New Jersey, along with New York and Connecticut, announced a new measure requiring out-of-state travelers in certain states to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Crucial Quote
“One selfish person can undo the hard work of everyone else,” Murphy tweeted. “I do not want to have to hit another pause on our restart because a small number of New Jerseyans are being irresponsible and spreading [Covid-19] while the rest of us continue to work hard to stop it.”
Key Background
The state’s daily positivity rate from July 2 was 2.14%, adding 216 new cases to its total of 173,611. Daily cases of the coronavirus nationwide reached new heights the past week as southern and western states struggle to mitigate its spread amid reopenings. In comments made to a Senate Committee on June 30, Fauci said the U.S. is “not in total control” of the pandemic. The U.S. leads all other countries in the number of confirmed cases and reported deaths with 2,910,023 and 130,090, respectively.
