Newark COVID Case, Death Update: Omicron, Vaccine Rates

NEWARK, NJ — How many cases of the coronavirus have been reported so far in Newark this year? And how many people have died from complications related to COVID-19?

According to recent state statistics, the threat level in Essex County has been receding in recent weeks. As part of its weekly COVID-19 Activity Level Report, the New Jersey Department of Health assigns counties four possible rankings: Low, Moderate, High, and Very High. For the week ending Feb. 12, Essex County ranked as “moderate” – the second straight week it has done so. The county was in “high” status for the week ending Jan. 29.

However, Essex County is still in "high" community transmission status as of Feb. 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's data tracker.

Here are some local coronavirus updates you should know about in Newark.

OMICRON - The omicron variant is now the dominant variant in New Jersey, state data shows. According to the health department’s most recent report for the week ending Jan. 29, omicron B.1.1.529 cases made up 97.5 percent of the state’s total – up from 10.7 percent on Dec. 20.

VACCINES - In Newark, 75 percent of residents (all ages) have gotten at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. In addition, 62 percent of all Newark residents have received complete vaccination courses.

NEWARK CASES/DEATHS

Essex County officials began releasing daily COVID-19 statistics in March 2020, including cumulative (total) cases and deaths. That effort continues for all towns and cities in 2022, including Newark.

>> See Newark's complete 2021 case and death totals here

The county’s statistics do not differentiate between vaccinated and unvaccinated cases.

County officials have noted that their numbers may not match municipal or state totals, and that cases are sometimes reassigned to a different location after an investigation. Officials have also noted that ongoing data cleaning has taken place in their reporting system to "remove duplicate cases or errors," which may periodically lower a town’s case totals.

Newark has a population of 311,549 residents, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

Here are the weekly numbers so far this year in Newark:

• Dec. 31 - 58,185 cumulative cases, 1,079 cumulative deaths (since March 2020)
• Jan. 7 – 67,110 cases, 1,088 deaths
• Jan. 14 – 72,634 cases, 1,112 deaths
• Jan. 21 – 75,053 cases, 1,143 deaths
• Jan. 28 – 75,987 cases, 1,167 deaths
• Feb. 4 – 76,393 cases, 1,178 deaths
• Feb. 11 – 76,627 cases, 1,195 deaths
• Feb. 18 – 76,810 cases, 1,201 deaths

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