TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says he is seeing some promising news in the fight against COVID-19. But he also said a lot more needs to happen before the state can reopen safely.

“No state has come close to what we’ve done in New Jersey,” Murphy said.

Murphy says cooperation with aggressive social distancing orders is paying off.

Despite surpassing 3,100 COVID-19 fatalities, the rate of people being hospitalized with the virus continues to gradually diminish as the number of people beating it continues to increase.

In the last 10 days, there have been more than 6,300 COVID-19 patients discharged from New Jersey hospitals.

“So while the numbers we report are grim, over 6,000 discharges serve as a reminder that people are getting better and they are overcoming this illness,” New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said.

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Officials say the projected peak of the virus is now less than two weeks away but plans to reopen businesses and ease stay-at-home orders still hinge on increasing testing and contact tracing capacity.

On Wednesday, Rutgers rolled out a new testing system in Middlesex County that uses saliva to test for COVID-19 rather than nasal swabs. Health and government experts around the country are eyeing this effort to see its potential for mass testing.

“I think it’s a source of great pride to see New Jersey’s own flagship university stepping up to help fill the testing gap,” Murphy said.

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But speaking at a new test site in Blackwood, Congressman Donald Norcross says the federal government must do more to equip states with testing resources, as people itch to return to some semblance of normal life.

“For our country to get our hands around this, to really address it, for tracking of it, we need more testing to get America back to work,” Norcross said.

Despite optimism about the slowing of COVID-19, a grim reality for the handling of mounting deaths. Today, New Jersey eased regulations on crematoriums and cemeteries so they can increase their workload.