TRENTON (KYW Newsradio) — On the day vaccination eligibility opened-up to people over the age of 16, New Jersey’s latest COVID-19 curve has begun to flatten.
However, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said it is too soon to ease up on more restrictions. He explains that the state's COVID-19 metrics are inching downward.
“It’s baby steps. But I think that we like the fact that numbers are slowly beginning to go in a better direction," said Murphy.
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Hospitalizations are still over 2,000, but they have declined each day for the past week. The state reported 18 new deaths and 1,935 new cases, the first time in a month-and-a-half that there were fewer than 2,000 daily cases.
New Jersey’s seven-day average for new positive tests is down 5% over the last month.
“If you look at hospitalizations over the past number of days, ICU, ventilator use, it’s slowly but surely beginning to go in the right direction," Murphy explained.
The state is more than halfway to its vaccination goal with more than 2.5 million people fully vaccinated.
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“When you have over six million shots in the arms, over half the 4.7 million adults we want to get vaccinated having been vaccinated, the weather getting a little bit better to allow us to live more of our lives outside, that’s all cause for quiet, cautious optimism," Governor Murphy said.
“For my taste at least, it’s too early to declare victory, and we still have this naggingly high positivity rate.”
He revealed his administration was working on guidance for proms and graduations. Those guidelines may be announced next week.