New Jersey on Tuesday reported another 182 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and an additional 15 confirmed deaths as the state’s outbreak has begun to level off at some of the lowest numbers recorded during the pandemic.

More than 4.8 million people who live, work, or study in the 9.2 million-resident Garden State have now been fully vaccinated, according to state data.

Of those, more than 4.58 million have been vaccinated at New Jersey sites, including 103,000 out-of-state residents who were vaccinated here. More than 248,000 New Jerseyans have been vaccinated in other states. More than 424,000 first and second vaccine doses administered in New Jersey have gone to children under 18.

More than 5.26 million people have received at least their first dose at a New Jersey site — about 57% of the state’s residents.

Gov. Phil Murphy has repeated in recent days New Jersey’s positive cases now are being driven by those who remain unvaccinated because vaccines have proven to be more than 99% effective.`

Murphy tweeted that 14 of the 15 deaths announced Tuesday are from “across the past week,” while one is from the week of May 30-June 5.

The state’s seven-day average for new confirmed positive COVID-19 tests is now 184 — down 3% from a week ago and 66% from a month ago.

There were 302 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or suspected cases across New Jersey as of Monday night — the third day the number has dropped. Hospitalizations had been falling steadily from the peak of the state’s second wave, when 3,873 patients were in hospitals on Dec. 22. They’re now at their lowest point since the state began reporting coronavirus hospitalizations in spring 2020 and have hovered just above 300 patients for the past several days.

The statewide transmission rate remained 0.99, the same as the day before. Any number under 1 indicates that each new case is leading to less than one additional case.

New Jersey, an early epicenter of the pandemic, has seen a staggering death toll from the virus. The state of has now reported 26,392 deaths from complications related to COVID-19 in more than 15 months — 23,702 confirmed and 2,690 considered probable. That’s the most deaths per capita among U.S. states.

Murphy said 14 of the confirmed deaths reported Tuesday were from the past week and one is from the week of May 30 to June 5.

In all, the Garden State has reported 891,644 total confirmed cases out of more than 14.4 million tests since it announced its first case March 4, 2020.

The state has also reported 129,910 positive antigen tests during the pandemic. Those cases are considered probable, and health officials have warned that positive antigen tests could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given in tandem.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

HOSPITALIZATIONS

There were 302 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected XCOVID-19 cases across New Jersey’s hospitals as of Monday night — 10 fewer than the night before, according to state data.

That included 55 in critical or intensive care (nine fewer than the previous night), with 32 on ventilators (the same as the previous night).

There were 27 COVID-19 patients discharged Monday.

By comparison, hospitalizations peaked at more than 8,300 patients during the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020 and more than 3,800 during the second wave in December.

SCHOOL CASES

New Jersey has reported 281 in-school coronavirus outbreaks, which have resulted in 1,263 cases among students, teachers and school staff this academic year, according to state data.

The state defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school. Those numbers do not include students or staff believed to have been infected outside school or cases that can’t be confirmed as in-school outbreaks.

There are about 1.4 million public school students and teachers across the state, though teaching methods amid the outbreak have varied, with some schools teaching in-person, some using a hybrid format and others remaining all-remote.

Murphy has said his executive order allowing for virtual schooling in New Jersey during the pandemic will not be renewed beyond this academic year, which will officially end the option for virtual learning in the fall.

But the governor said students may still be required to wear masks when the next academic year begins — though he since added that could change.

AGE BREAKDOWN

Broken down by age, those 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (30.9%), followed by those 50-64 (22.4%), 18-29 (20%), 5-17 (10.1%), 65-79 (10%), 80 and older (4.4%) and 0-4 (2.1%).

On average, the virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with preexisting conditions. Nearly half the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (45.92%), followed by those 65-79 (33.15%), 50-64 (16.35%), 30-49 (4.16%), 18-29 (0.39%), 5-17 (0%) and 0-4 (0.02%).

At least 8,060 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.

There are active outbreaks at 35 facilities, resulting in 308 active cases among residents and 651 among staffers. Those numbers have slowed as vaccinations continue at the facilities.

GLOBAL NUMBERS

As of early Tuesday afternoon, there have been more than 178.9 million positive COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 3.87 million people have died from the coronavirus.

The U.S. has reported more cases than any other nation, at more than 33.5 million, and the most deaths, at more than 602,000.

More than 2.67 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.