New Jersey officials say 7-month-old tested positive for COVID after death

New Jersey officials this week reported the death of a 7-month-old who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, though they said the primary cause of death was unclear.

The fatality was reported during Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) news briefing on Wednesday.

“Sadly today we are reporting the death of a 7-month-old baby who, after death, tested positive for COVID-19. However, we do not know the primary cause of this death at this point in time,” New Jersey health commissioner Judy Persichilli said during the briefing.

In addition to the baby, the state reported seven other COVID-19 deaths during the briefing. 

On Thursday, Murphy reported eight additional deaths, bringing the state’s total fatalities to 13,996. He also reported 411 new positive cases, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 183,701.

#COVID19 UPDATE: New Jersey has 411 new positive cases of COVID-19, pushing our cumulative total to 183,701.

Sadly, we must report an additional confirmed 8 COVID-19 deaths, pushing our total to 13,996 lives lost.

Learn more: https://t.co/JW1q8awGh7.

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) August 6, 2020

The state’s rate of transmission slightly declined on Wednesday from the previous day, down to 1.32, but Murphy warned it is “still too high.”

“It’s over 1, and it means this virus continues to spread too quickly at and too widely across our state,” Murphy said. 

The state’s rate or transmission held steady on Thursday at 1.32, down from the 1.41 reported on Tuesday, according to NJ.com.

The rate of transmission in the state had hit a four-month high on Sunday at 1.49, after having remained below 1 for weeks during the state’s strictest lockdown measures, the outlet noted.

On Monday, Murphy announced he would lower the cap for indoor gatherings at 25 percent capacity and limit gatherings to a max of 25 people, down from 100, in response to increased COVID-19 cases.