With projected peaks in hospitalizations and cases approaching, New Jersey now has at least 54,588 cases of the coronavirus, with at least 1,932 deaths, as state officials reported 3,627 new cases and 233 new fatalities Friday morning.

One month after the Garden State announced its first death from COVID-19, Gov. Phil Murphy also said there are some “good early signs” the infection rate is slowing down.

But Murphy stressed that cases and death numbers are still rising, and he urged residents to keep practicing social distancing to help fight the spread and preserve hospital capacity.

“We are beginning to see some light here,” Murphy said during his daily coronavirus press briefing. “We have to get to the top of the mountain and then aggressively bring it down the other side.”

As of 10 p.m. Thursday, 7,570 people in New Jersey were hospitalized either with COVID-19 or the suspicion of having it, officials said. Of those, 1,679 are in critical care and 1,663 on ventilators.

Officials have not yet provided how many people in New Jersey have recovered from COVID-19.

But over the past 24 hours, 682 residents who were hospitalized with the virus were discharged, officials said Friday.

Murphy also showed a map indicating the rate of infection is continuing to slow across multiple counties — including Salem and most notably Bergen, which has been the state’s biggest coronavirus hot spot since the outbreak began.

“Too early to spike any footballs, but those are two important early signs,” Murphy said.

Murphy also noted the deaths involve “real people, real human beings, real families."

”We all have a role to play to reduce the number of people we lose," he said. “We all have to practice social distancing.”

The governor said these steps are especially needed with Passover and Easter being celebrated this weekend.

“Staying apart this year is the surest way we’ll be able to gather again next Easter and more Easters to come,” he said. “We all must work together.”

“This cannot be a weekend to think we can let out foot off the gas,” Murphy added. “We have to keep with it. You’re starting to see some glimmers of hope. ... (But) we will still lose many folks in this state.”

New Jersey, which has 9 million residents, continues to have the second-most COVID-19 cases and deaths among U.S. states, after neighboring New York.

Officials say the state could see the peak number of hospitalizations in the coming days — with about 14,400 people with the virus projected to hospitalized, including 2,880 in critical care.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said she believes the state will be able to handle the surge as hospitals and officials work to add more patient beds — with some low-acuity patients likely being treated at field hospitals, hotels, and college dormitories. But Persichilli said the number of available workers is “tight right now."

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.

Since the outbreak began, at least 105,611 people have been tested in the Garden State. So far, about 44.2% have tested positive, officials said.

It’s difficult to get a complete picture of exactly how many people in New Jersey currently have the coronavirus or have died from it. That’s because the state is testing only residents showing symptoms of COVID-19, and officials say testing has been backed up for up to 14 days. The state also is not reporting significant increases in daily testing, so it’s unclear how quickly the virus is spreading.

Plus, some residents who have died recently have not been tested for the disease but may have had it.

“We know that’s we’re missing people,” said Edward Lifshitz, medical director of the state Health Department’s communicable disease service. “We certainly do our best.”

Lifshitz also said a smaller number of people listed as having died of COVID-19 may not have had it.

“The numbers are never going to be perfect,” he said.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN EACH COUNTY

The latest county-by-county breakdown of confirmed cases as of Friday morning, according to the state tracking website, are:

Bergen County: 8,928 cases, with 390 deaths

Essex County: 6,580 cases, with 352 deaths

Hudson County: 6,411 cases, with 163 deaths

Union County: 5,575 cases, with 161 deaths

Middlesex County: 5,060 cases, with 168 deaths

Passaic County: 5,017 cases, with 101 deaths

Monmouth County: 3,496 cases, with 107 deaths

Ocean County: 3,269 cases, with 121 deaths

Morris County: 2,771 cases, with 135 deaths

Somerset County: 1,523 cases, with 69 deaths

Mercer County: 1,282 cases, with 39 deaths

Camden County: 1,072 cases, with 29 deaths

Burlington County: 954 cases, with 22 deaths

Gloucester County: 447 cases, with 8 deaths

Sussex County: 413 cases, with 26 deaths

Warren County: 337 cases, with 15 deaths

Hunterdon County: 293 cases, with 7 deaths

Atlantic County: 211 cases, with 6 deaths

Cumberland County: 138 cases, with 3 deaths

Cape May County: 116 cases, with 5 deaths

Salem County: 46 cases, with 3 deaths

Of the 233 new deaths that were reported Friday morning, 71 were associated with longterm care facilities, Persichilli said. In all, there are 4,100 nursing-home patients with COVID-19, the health commissioner said.

VIRUS SPREADING IN VETERANS HOMES

Persichilli also said two of New Jersey’s three veterans homes continue to be hit by the virus.

The home in Menlo Park has 16 residents and five staff members who are positive, with four deaths and 12 residents hospitalized.

The home in Paramus has 29 residents and 17 staff positive, with 13 deaths and eight hospitalized. The home in Vineland has no confirmed cases among their residents or staff.

In all, 845 veterans reside in the three veterans homes.

BREAKDOWN OF FATAL CASES

Of the coronavirus deaths in New Jersey, 58% are male and 42% are female.

The breakdowns by age are 1% under 30 years old, 4% between 30 and 49 years old, 17% 50-64, 33% 65-79, and 45% over 80.

The breakdowns by race are 64% white (including 17% Latino), 20% black, 6% Asian, and less than 1% Pacific Islanders.

Meanwhile, at least 923 of the residents who died — or 48% — had known underlying medical conditions, officials said. That includes 29% with cardiovascular disease, 17% diabetes, 10% chronic lung disease, 7% chronic renal disease, 7% neurologic, and 6% cancer. About 15% have other chronic illnesses.

But those numbers could be higher because the state was still investigating the medical histories of 814 victims as of Wednesday. About 2% of those who died had no underlying conditions, Persichilli said Wednesday. She did not have updated numbers Friday.

In general, officials say, about 85% of people with the virus see only mild symptoms, while about 15% — especially those with pre-existing conditions — have more severe cases.

UPDATE ON STATE TESTING SITES

Murphy said only the state-run mass testing site at Bergen Community College in Paramus will be open Saturday. The PNC Bank Arts Center location in Holmdel will be closed.

Only symptomatic New Jersey residents will be tested.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

To help curb the virus’ spread and protect hospital capacity, Murphy has put the state into near-lockdown. The governor has ordered residents to stay at home, banned social gatherings, closed schools, and mandated non-essential retail businesses close until further notice.

He has also limited the number of people can be in businesses allowed to remain open and required employees and shoppers to wear face coverings.

Murphy has said the virus’ effect on New Jersey could last into the summer. And he has said he is not close to lifting the restrictions to help prevent the virus from “boomeranging.”

As of Friday afternoon, COVID-19 has infected more than 1.6 million people in the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. Of that, more than 100,000 have died and more than 368,000 have recovered.

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

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