NJ COVID Updates: Capacity Increases to 50% for Indoor Dining, Other Enterprises; South African variant confirmed in NJ (11 March 2021)

The recovery of New Jersey as a result of the coronavirus pandemic took another increasing step forward on Wednesday when Governor Phil Murphy announced that restaurants and many other indoor businesses could increase their capacity from 35% to 50% next week.

Bars, casinos, gyms, personal care services and entertainment venues can also be half-filled on March 19 at 6 p.m.

The restriction on private gatherings will also increase to 25 people inside and 50 outside. Religious services or ceremonies, political events, weddings, funerals and memorial services have higher limits.

The capacity of indoor dining room was originally reopened before the weekend of Labor Day at 25%. Murphy increased capacity to 35% in early February.

The governor said the limits were being raised due to the sharp decline in hospitalizations over the past month. The number of coronavirus patients in hospitals has decreased by about 1,000 since February 5.

As of 22:00 on Thursday, there were 1936 patients in the 71 hospitals of the state with the coronavirus or a suspected case, down from 1,961 in the previous 24-hour period. There were 392 people receiving intensive care, of which 230 were on ventilators. Hospitalizations have decreased by 45% since 1 January.

On Wednesday, Murphy announced 3,047 more COVID-19 cases and 56 additional deaths.

At least 2,711,524 vaccine doses in the state were administered from 4:30 p.m., Thursday.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live card tracker | Newsletter | Home

Here’s an overview of the latest coronavirus news in New Jersey and elsewhere:

Coronavirus claims the lives of three veteran employees of the NJ Transit bus: Three NJ Transit bus officials, who had been on duty for decades, have died from coronavirus complications, officials said.

The announcement comes a day after NJ Transit posted a tribute video on social media to the employees who lost the agency due to COVID-19 and to thank employees who kept the service running for a full year of the coronavirus .

COVID closes Oakland’s MVC agency, bringing the total gap to 12: The state motor vehicle commission on Wednesday lost another agency that had to close due to an employee testing positive for the coronavirus.

But the scale could be leveled for executives on Thursday when another agency is expected to reopen.

The MVC closed the Oakland Licensing Center Wednesday afternoon after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. After disinfection, contact detection and the necessary quarantine to employees, it will reopen on March 23.

21 school districts brought back students for personal learning this week. See the list.: Twenty-one districts brought students back to classrooms part-time this week as schools continue to change learning formats during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

As of Monday, 543 districts were hybrid, 127 remote and 109 were completely personal. Twenty-one districts made the switch to hybrid learning this week, while the number of districts that are completely personal decreased by two. Thirty-three districts have different education formats for different schools.

Every NJ child now has a laptop for online school, says Murphy: Nearly a year after ordering all schools to close, Murphy announced Wednesday that every student in New Jersey should now have a laptop and Internet access for online classes.

The closure of the digital divide of the state comes as approximately 367,000 students remain in virtual education. Another 831 000 students attend schools that offer hybrid personal learning, which means that almost 1.2 million students (approximately 89%) currently spend at least part of the school week on home learning.

NJ confirms first case of a more contagious COVID variant in South Africa. Total variant cases up to 145.: Health officials in New Jersey announced on Wednesday that the first case of the more contagious coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa has been confirmed in the state.

The case in Hudson County brings the total number of cases found in New Jersey to 145, said State Department Commissioner Judy Persichilli.

US Affairs: According to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, at least 529,267 of the approximately 29.1 million who died positive for the coronavirus in the United States have died.

Global affairs: According to the center, the coronavirus resulted in at least 2,621,986 million deaths in 192 provinces as of 7 a.m. Thursday. More than 118.1 million have been infected since the outbreak in December 2019. At least 66.9 million have recovered.

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NJ Advance Media writers Matt Arco, Adam Clark Nick Devlin, Larry Higgs and Katie Kausch contributed to this report.