Coronavirus transmission rate in N.J. reaches highest since early May; officials beg people to wear masks

The coronavirus transmission rate in New Jersey has risen to its highest in 10 weeks, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday: Every new case of the coronavirus in the state is now leading to at least one other case.

“As we took the steps to reopen, we knew we were taking on some more risk,” Murphy said. “And that’s probably a partial contributor to the increased rate of transmission.”

After the July Fourth weekend brought out crowds and inspired gatherings, Murphy implored residents to wear face masks. And in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf, citing studies that have indicated face masks reduce the risk of infection, said the outbreak of cases in the state’s southwest region “has been traced to people not wearing masks in public places,” such as bars and restaurants.

On Monday, the number of people in the United States who have tested positive for the coronavirus surpassed 2.9 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. Pennsylvania and New Jersey officials have been proceeding with a more cautious approach than leaders of some other states, looking to avoid the major spikes states that eased shutdown restrictions earlier are now seeing.

Murphy said his state has learned of new outbreaks that are linked to people who have traveled out of state to hot spots. One that has impacted Sussex and Warren Counties, for example, stemmed from people who went to a wedding in South Carolina. The state police also had to break up a crowd of 500 people in Burlington City over the weekend who were partying and dancing inside a restaurant and in its parking lot.

“That sort of stuff indoors, that can’t happen,” Murphy said. “That’s exactly why Arizona and Florida and Texas and other places are exploding.”

Black and Latino people in the U.S. have been three times as likely to get sick with the virus and almost twice as likely to die of it than white people, new federal data obtained by The New York Times revealed. In Philadelphia, Chester, Delaware, and Bucks Counties, Black residents had the highest virus infection rate, and Latino residents had the highest in Montgomery County, according to the data, which did not account for all cases.

As schools continue to grapple with how they’ll resume instruction in the fall, Princeton University announced undergraduate students would be allowed to return to campus for one semester in the upcoming academic year, with freshmen and juniors on campus in the fall and sophomores and seniors there in the spring.

Most classes will remain online in an effort to reduce the density of people on the New Jersey campus, and all undergraduates will have the option of completing the entire year remotely, the university said.

Princeton’s decision differed from that of Harvard University, which announced Monday all classes would be online but 40% of undergrads would be allowed to live on campus.

And Rutgers University said most courses would be taught remotely, but a limited number of classes in hands-on subjects will be offered in person.

» READ MORE: Coronavirus, racial reckoning, money woes: it’s been quite a first week for Rutgers’ new president

Nearly half of the 450 new cases reported in Pennsylvania on Monday were from Allegheny County. In Philadelphia, the seven-day average number of new daily cases was 160, the highest since June 4, according to an Inquirer data analysis. The city reported 274 new cases in the three-day period since Friday.

The Philadelphia Zoo reopened to members Monday — it opens to the public Thursday — and Franklin Square park, which has a new fountain show and carousel, also opened. The city’s 91 spraygrounds, where children can run through sprinklers and fountains, also opened for the summer. Kids need to wear masks when not in the water, Mayor Jim Kenney said.

Monday also marked the first day of the city’s summer camp programs. They usually draw about 8,000 participants, but the city this year capped enrollment at 4,000 to allow for social distancing and other coronavirus safety practices, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Parks & Recreation. Only about 2,000 have signed up so far, and enrollment is still open.

Pennsylvania workers have received $23.7 billion in unemployment benefits since the pandemic put millions of people out of work, state officials said Monday.

The total payout since March 15 includes state and federal assistance distributed by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, which has received more than 2.2 million unemployment compensation claims during the pandemic.

As of Monday, 90% of eligible claimants who filed for benefits since March 15 have received payments. The state is now getting fewer than 50,000 applications per week, Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said. The rate has slowed from a peak of about 300,000 per week after the pandemic began.

Pennsylvania’s moratorium on evictions and foreclosures is set to expire Friday, and Wolf said he has not yet decided whether he will extend it again, as he did in May.

If the moratorium ends, it would only apply to suburban counties and not Philadelphia, where an eviction moratorium has been extended though Aug. 31.

In Philadelphia, applications for a second phase of rental assistance for tenants affected by the pandemic opened on Monday. Applications can be submitted to PHLRentAssist.org until September 30 or when funding, estimated to be enough for about 6,300 renters, runs out.

» READ MORE: Do I have to pay my rent? Renters’ rights in Philadelphia during the coronavirus pandemic.

The commonwealth will send $53 million in federal coronavirus funding to child-care centers across the state in an effort to prevent the centers from closing and to support parents who are returning to work.

Announcing the additional funding Monday, Wolf said 65 child-care centers have permanently closed since the pandemic began and dozens more are expected to follow suit. Hundreds of workers have also been laid off, he said.

“With more parents now needing to get back to work, one of the things we need to do is relieve them of the pressure and the stress of them not knowing what to do with their children,” Wolf said.

Staff writers Rob Tornoe, Christian Hetrick, Kristen A. Graham, and Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.