There are 11 known cases of the highly-contagious UK variant of the novel coronavirus in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday.
State health commissioner Judy Persichilli had announced the discovery of two cases on Jan. 22.
Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, New Jersey’s Covid-19 response medical advisor, defended the governor’s decision to ease indoor capacity restrictions, saying that such cases amount to only a “handful” both in the state and nationwide, that the pace of vaccinations will only continue to increase, and that the ease in restrictions is a “minor change…all things considered.”
The state department of health reported 2,021 new positive Covid-19 cases and 52 additional virus related deaths Wednesday, raising the statewide cumulative totals to 631,309 and 19,506, respectively, according to its Covid-19 dashboard. There are currently 2,986 New Jerseyans hospitalized, of whom 525 are in critical care.
Note: These numbers were released by the state’s health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.