All but 1 county in N.J. now considered ‘high’ risk for COVID-19 transmission

Quite a change from three weeks ago, when only 1 of the 21 counties was in the highest category of risk

At the start of the month, just one county in New Jersey was considered “high” risk for the transmission of COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Now there is just one county that is not.

Sussex County is the last county left in the “substantial” risk category for the CDC, according to weeklong data through Tuesday, Aug. 17. The other 20 all were rated as being “high” risk.

The difference essentially is symbolic.

The CDC says any county that is in the “substantial” or “high” risk range meets the level that the CDC recommends for indoor masking — even for people who are vaccinated.

But the fact that the data has shifted so much in the past three weeks is indication that the Delta variant is moving throughout the state.

Here’s a county-by-county list for New Jersey:

  • Atlantic: High
  • Bergen: High
  • Burlington: High
  • Camden: High
  • Cape May: High
  • Cumberland: High
  • Essex: High
  • Gloucester: High
  • Hudson: High
  • Hunterdon: High
  • Mercer: High
  • Middlesex: High
  • Monmouth: High
  • Morris: High
  • Ocean: High
  • Passaic: High
  • Salem: High
  • Somerset: High
  • Sussex: Substantial
  • Union: High
  • Warren: High