The US state of New Jersey has hit a grim new pandemic milestone with healthcare workers at hospitals throughout the state starting to receive the first batch of coronavirus vaccines this week.
As of Sunday, the state had logged 18,297 confirmed deaths, according to pandemic data website Worldometer.
With a population just shy of 9 million people, that amounts to about one death out of every 500 residents.
As an international travel and transit hub, New Jersey, along with New York, were hit especially hard as the pandemic unfolded, which means a significant share of the state’s deaths occurred in the spring and summer.
New Jersey is approaching 200 deaths per 100,000 residents since the pandemic began. That death toll is higher than any state in the US and far above the country’s national rate of 85 deaths per 100,000.
It’s even higher than the cumulative death toll in Belgium, the hardest-hit nation, which has 150.9 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to figures by the World Health Organization.
New Jersey on Saturday reported 4,240 new virus cases and 49 deaths.
However, the seven-day average for new positive tests declined to 4,489 the same day, down 12% from a week ago, but up 16% from a month ago. The seven-day average has been above 4,000 since November 23.
New Jersey has had 1,071 confirmed deaths in December, the most of any month since June.
New Jersey has now reported 427,417 cases out of more than 7 million tests administered in the more than nine months since the outbreak started March 4, though those totals do not include rapid tests.
