N.J. reports 5,246 new COVID cases, 96 deaths as Murphy demands answers on vaccine supply - NJ.com

New Jersey health officials on Saturday reported 5,246 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 96 additional deaths as hospitalizations increased and vaccination appointments grew scarce.

There were 3,677 patients hospitalized in New Jersey with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases as of Friday night.

The state of 9 million residents has now lost 20,414 residents in the COVID-19 outbreak — 18,323 confirmed deaths and 2,091 considered probable, according to state data.

New Jersey has already announced 1,226 confirmed deaths this month, following 1,890 in December.

New Jersey has now reported 560,423 total confirmed cases out of more than 8.6 million tests administered since officials announced the state’s first case March 4.

There have also been 61,662 positive rapid antigen tests, which the state began reporting publicly last week, though the state has cautioned that could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests.

More than 327,600 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the state as of Saturday, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

8, when 24,482 doses were administered, according to the state.

There were 3,677 patients hospitalized in New Jersey with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases as of Friday night.

There were 437 COVID-19 patients discharged Friday, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

There have been 111 in-school coronavirus outbreaks in New Jersey involving 564 students, teachers and staff since the school year began in late August, according to the state dashboard.

New Jersey defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school.

Broken down by age, those 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (31.2%), followed by those 50-64 (23.7%), 18-29 (19.2%), 65-79 (11.1%), 80 and older (5.4%), 5-17 (7.5%) and 0-4 (1.5%).

Nearly half the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (47%), followed by those 65-79 (32.9%), 50-64 (15.7%), 30-49 (4%), 18-29 (0.4%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0%).

At least 7,644 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

As of Saturday morning, there were more than 93.9 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.

has reported the most cases, at more than 23.5 million, and the most deaths, at more than 392,300.