Gov. Phil Murphy announced the extension of the Garden State's public health emergency for an additional 30 days during a press conference Friday.

The governor says that New Jersey is not out of the woods yet, and residents must continue to be vigilant and prepared for a potential new outbreak.

The state recorded an addition 612 new cases of the coronavirus, which put New Jersey's total since March 4 to 202,100.

The daily rate of transmission remained at 1.15 while the daily positivity rate for test from Sept. 21 was 2.22%.

Gov. Murphy also announced a big increase in the number of people who took the call from contact tracers.

He says nine new contact tracers have been added, bringing a total of 1,873 tracers on-the-ground in New Jersey.

The New Jersey Labor Department also announced that initial unemployment claims increased to 24,663.

Around 1.4 million New Jersey residents have received benefits since the beginning of the pandemic with 96% of those deemed eligible receiving at least one payment.

Seven new deaths related to the coronavirus, bringing the state's total to 14,306.

At least 233 people are hospitalized with coronavirus with 75 patients in intensive care.