New Jersey, the state with the second-most cases and deaths of the coronavirus in America, is receiving a batch of sought-after rapid testing devices from the federal government that will expand the Garden State’s ability to combat the fast-spreading illness, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday.

The state has acquired 15 ID Now devises, which are lightweight, portable molecular testing units developed by Abbott Labs of Illinois that can process specimens in about 5-13 minutes. They are about the size of a toaster.

New Jersey has received an initial allotment of 125 tests to run on the machines.

Murphy said the devices will be given to health-care systems throughout the state.

“In order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and manage our health care resources and personal protective equipment supply, we need to implement more aggressive testing techniques,” the governor said.

“With Abbott’s innovative point-of-care molecular testing platform, we will be able to swiftly process lab specimens and provide individuals with the care and resources they need immediately," Murphy added.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said rapid testing will help “provide more real-time data on the impact of COVID-19 in our state.”

Still, officials said the state will need “additional resources to achieve maximum testing capacity.”

Though Murphy has praised how widespread New Jersey’s testing regime is, the system’s shortcomings have made it difficult to get a complete picture of how much the virus has spread in the state.

That’s because New Jersey is testing only residents showing symptoms, even though asymptomatic people can carry the virus, the state is not reporting significant increases in daily testing, and results have been backed up by as much as 14 days.

State officials have said testing is limited by a lack of equipment and workers — and Murphy has repeatedly asked the federal government to supply more. President Donald Trump’s administration has faced criticism for being slow to ramp up testing in the country, though the president has said it’s partially up to the states to do so.

Abbott received approval last month from the federal Food and Drug Administration to run its ID Now tests. Trump has promoted the rapid tests at news conferences in recent weeks.

New Jersey, a state of 9 million residents, now has at least 54,588 cases of COVID-19, with at least 1,932 deaths, state officials announced Friday. Only New York has more of both cases and deaths among U.S. states.

In addition to seeking more tests, Murphy has also implemented stay-at-home orders for residents and mandated nonessential business closings to help halt the spread and preserve hospital space.

Officials say the state is likely to see the peak number of hospitalizations from COVID-19 over the next few days — with about 14,400 people with the virus hospitalized and 2,800 in critical care.

Separately, officials say the peak number of cases in the state is predicted to come between April 19 and May 11, and it could be between 86,000 and 509,000 cases.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

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