Governor Phil Murphy reported another 3,551 COVID-19 positive cases, bringing the statewide total to 95,865. In 24 hours, the state procesed 314 deaths, bringing the statewide total to 5,063, Murphy said.

As of last night, 7,210 New Jerseyans were hospitalized with the virus.

1,983 of them were in critical or intensive care;

1,570 were on ventilators;

84 were in field hospitals;

745 were discharged from hospitals in a 24-hour period.

“We’re the fourth highest tested state in America,” said the governor. “We are testing more and more every day but it is not a definitive answer to how many people may be infected. We know to the person how many people are hospitalized.”

New Jersey needs to be prepared for a spike in new cases, he warned.

“We must never allow this to become abstract,” the governor added. “Each and every one of these individuals was an extraordinary life lost.”

He touched on the tri-state contact tracing program, now in its infancy, which New York Governor Andrew Cuomo touched on in his own statewide briefing earlier today.

“We recognize that robust contact tracing is vital to any reopening efforts,” Murphy said.

Yesterday the state received 500 ventilators, now inventoried and ready for distrubution to New Jersey’s hospitals.

“This makes us better prepared for spikes,” Murphy said. “They’re in the house, we bought ’em, they’re in the house. They’re ours.”

Will the state need the ventilators?

“I hope not,” said the governor. But if there is a jump in cases now in the midst of this current scourge or when New Jersey reopens or afterwards, they will be available.

“What if this thing comes back?” said Murphy. “This is the sort of virus where the likelihood of it coming back is pretty high.  We need the capacities down the road even if we get everything right, now only in the current surge but in the fall or winter of next year.”