Fall has arrived as New Jersey continues to deal with the spread of the novel coronavirus with hundreds of new cases reported Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced 430 new coronavirus cases to bring the state total since the start of the pandemic to just below 201,000. The rate of transmission remained above 1 on Wednesday at 1.15. That means that each infected person is spreading the virus to just over one other person.
New Jersey has seen a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases recently -- with hundreds of cases reported most days -- but still is far below the daily case counts it experienced during the height of spread in the spring.
Some cases have been reported in school communities, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said. State health officials are working to find out, however, if there has been any spread inside schools.
The health department has yet to reveal at which schools cases have been reported. Murphy said they expected cases to come up as schools resumed and health officials are working on a plan to reveal where cases have been reported.
At least 14,291 people had died from virus-related complications with seven new deaths announced Wednesday. Another nearly 1,800 deaths are suspected to be due to coronavirus.
Murphy continued Wednesday to urge residents to continue to practice social-distancing, wash their hands and wear masks.
"I know it’s been a long haul," Murphy said. "But, we’re only going to beat this thing if we keep it up."
