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New Jersey on Tuesday reported seven more newly confirmed COVID-19 deaths and another 792 confirmed cases, while the statewide transmission rate has risen to 1.5, the highest mark since the early days of the pandemic.

The update comes as the federal Centers for Disease Control reversed course Tuesday and said all people, including the fully vaccinated, wear masks indoors in public again in parts of the U.S. with high or substantial transmission. The agency is also recommending that everyone in K-12 schools wear face coverings.

In New Jersey, Monmouth County is listed as having high transmission, while Atlantic, Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, Ocean, and Passaic counties have substantial transmission.

Gov. Phil Murphys administration is evaluating the latest recommendation, a spokeswoman told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday afternoon, but did not make an announcement about any mask mandates returning to New Jersey.

Governor Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Health will review the new CDC guidance on masking requirements in response to the spread of the delta variant, Murphy spokeswoman Alex Altman said in an email. Governor Murphy continues to encourage all individuals ages 12 and up to receive the free and effective COVID-19 vaccination to reduce the spread of the virus.

MORE: Will N.J. indoor mask mandate return following latest CDC guidance change?

The Garden State, home to one of the nations highest vaccination rates, is still recording numbers below the pandemics peaks, with daily deaths continuously in the single digits. But officials warn that daily cases and hospitalizations have been increasing in recent days as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread, with unvaccinated people largely fueling the rise and being the most at risk.

The variant has made up 75% of the states new cases over the last four weeks based on sampling of test results, according to state date.

New Jerseys seven-day average for confirmed positive COVID-19 tests is now 726, up 59% from a week ago and 280% from a month ago, when officials were reporting record-low daily caseloads. Its the highest seven-day average since May 17.

There were 442 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or suspected cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals as of Monday night 23 more than the previous night and the most since June 7. Thats up 44% from a month ago.

Of those hospitalized Monday, 78 were in intensive care (four fewer than the night before), with 34 on ventilators (three fewer). There were 45 patients discharged.

New Jerseys statewide transmission rate increased Tuesday from 1.44 to 1.5 the highest number since the first few weeks of the pandemic in spring 2020, when testing was scarce. Any number over 1 indicates that each new case is leading to more than one additional case and shows the states outbreak is expanding.

The statewide positivity rate for tests conducted on Thursday, the most recent day available, was 3.84%.

Murphy said Monday that because of New Jerseys high vaccination rate, officials are relatively hopeful that hospitalizations will not return to where we were even a little more than two months ago. But officials are calling on more people to get vaccinated to help curb the spread.

Unless more of you who, for whatever reason, have not yet been vaccinated step forward and receive your doses, these risks remain, Murphy said.

Though its still possible for vaccinated people catch the virus, officials say state data shows vaccines have been widely effective in preventing infections, hospitalizations, and deaths related to COVID-19. Officials presented new data Monday showing of nearly 32,000 patients in New Jersey hospitalized with positive COVID-19 cases between Jan. 19 and July 12, more than 99% were unvaccinated.

In the same span, only 49 of the 5,400 COVID-19 deaths were of fully vaccinated people. That, officials said, means 99% of the deaths were of unvaccinated people.

More than 5.24 million people who live, work, or study in New Jersey have now been fully vaccinated, according to state data. There are more than 9 million residents in the state, including children under the age of 12, who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.

About 70% of the eligible population is vaccinated in New Jersey, ranking seventh in country, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But inoculations have slowed in recent months and about 4 million people in the state remain unvaccinated. The vaccinations are on top of any natural immunity people may have because they caught COVID-19 and survived.

New Jersey, an early coronavirus hotspot, has now reported 26,586 total COVID-19 deaths in slightly less than 17 months 23,867 confirmed and 2,719 considered probable. Thats the most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S.

In all, the state of more than 9 million residents has reported 903,611 total confirmed cases out of more than 14.61 million tests since it announced its first case March 4, 2020. The state has also reported 131,416 positive antigen tests, which are considered probable cases.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

People 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (30.9%), followed by those 50 to 64 (22.3%), 18 to 29 (20%), 5 to 17 (10.1%), 65 to 79 (10%), 80 and older (4.3%) and 0 to 4 (2.2%), according to state data.

The virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with pre-existing conditions. Nearly half the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (45.3%), followed by those 65 to 79 (33.6%), 50 to 64 (16.5%), 30 to 49 (4.1%), 18 to 29 (0.4%), 5 to 17 (0%) and 0 to 4 (0%).

At least 8,063 of the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.

As of Tuesday, there have been more than 194.9 million positive COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, with more than 4.17 million people having died from complications related to the virus. The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 34.5 million) and deaths (more than 611,000) than any other nation.

More than 3.9 billion vaccines have been administered globally.

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

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N.J. reports 792 COVID cases, 7 deaths. Transmission rate spikes to highest since early days of the pandemic. - nj.com