Ask about COVID-19: What questions do you have about coronavirus and vaccines?
South Jersey has overtaken North Jersey as the leader in COVID infections. Northern Jersey led the state through most of the pandemic.
“We’re seeing the opposite of what we experienced a year ago,” New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persicily said at the state’s COVID briefing on Monday.
As of September 30, the Garden State positive rate was 4.01%. When broken down by region, South Jersey had a positivity rate of 5.15%. It was 4.68% in Central Jersey and 3.06% in North Jersey.
Positive rate is the percentage of tests that return a positive result. According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 5% is the threshold for what is considered “too high.”
A year ago, South Jersey had a positivity rate of 2.56%.
“The best we can see are summer gatherings, mostly in the southern part of the state,” Persichilli added. That’s the most positive point. ”
Dr. Ed Lifshitz, the health department’s medical director, agreed, adding, “There are many reasons why it’s happening.”
“Certainly part of it has to do with the fact that people tend to gather more during the summer months,” he said.
Officials said they would monitor infections in the southern part of the state while investigating other causes of the increase. Other factors driving the increase include low vaccination numbers and rising cases in neighboring provinces, according to the Ministry of Health.