Nearly 80 percent of the state’s COVID-19’s victims have been 65 or older. (Source: COVID19.nj.gov. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

As New Jersey’s death toll from COVID-19 crossed the 10,000 mark, Governor Phil Murphy said other indicators of the weakening pandemic made it safe for physicians to resume elective surgery.

The move reverses a ban on non-emergency invasive and dental procedures  Murphy signed March 23.

He said data over recent weeks shows continuing drops in COVID-19 hospitalizations, intensive care bed usage and and patients on ventilators.

“Overall, the trends are moving in the right direction,” he said at his daily briefing. “Our hospitals are no longer on a crisis footing.”

The change is effecting May 26, he said.

• Murphy also declared that the primary election previously rescheduled for July 7 will “primarily” be a vote-by-mail election.

While all registered Democratic and Republican voters are slated to receive a postage-paid vote-by-mail ballot, unaffiliated and inactive voters will receive a postage-paid vote-by-mail ballot application, he said.

At the same time, every municipality must have at least one polling station open, he said.

Ballots postmarked by the date of the election and received up to seven days afterward will be counted as timely, rather than the usual 48 hours after polls close, Murphy said.

• Separately, state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said that 6 of the 17 minors previously reported as hospitalized with possible cases of pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome had confirmed cases of COVID-19.

On Thursday, Persichilli reported 4 of the minors had the disease.

The 17 patients range in age from 2 to 18 years old, and were in hospitals in nine counties, including an unspecified location in Monmouth County, she said Thursday.

•  Here are the latest statewide COVID-19 figures, according to the state Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard:

Deaths since March 10: 10,138, up 201 from Thursday’s report

Positive tests: 143,905, up 1,201

Patients in hospitals: 3,823, down 135

Patients in intensive/critical care: 1,127, down 32

Patients on ventilators: 865, down 33

Patients discharged in preceding 24 hours: 357, down 9

 •  Monmouth County reported 7,246 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, an increase of 46 from Thursday. Here’s the cumulative case totals by town:

• Aberdeen: 216
• Allenhurst: 5
• Allentown: 7
• Asbury Park: 180
• Atlantic Highlands: 30
• Avon-by-the-Sea: 12
• Belmar: 29
• Bradley Beach: 42
• Brielle: 27
• Colts Neck: 73
• Deal: 24
• Eatontown: 249
• Englishtown: 39
• Fair Haven: 23, up 1
• Farmingdale: 13
• Freehold Borough: 357
• Freehold Township: 597
• Hazlet: 253
• Highlands: 25
• Holmdel: 227
• Howell: 582
• Interlaken: 2
• Keansburg: 160
• Keyport: 85
• Lake Como: 16
• Little Silver: 34, unchanged
• Loch Arbour: 1
• Long Branch: 429
• Manalapan: 436
• Manasquan: 30
• Marlboro: 422
• Matawan: 173
• Middletown: 602
• Millstone Township: 80
• Monmouth Beach: 19
• Neptune City: 54
• Neptune Township: 427
• Ocean: 269
• Oceanport: 57
• Red Bank: 173, up 2
• Roosevelt: 6
• Rumson: 32
• Sea Bright: 10
• Sea Girt: 13
• Shrewsbury Borough: 49
• Shrewsbury Township: 9
• Spring Lake: 13
• Spring Lake Heights: 17
• Tinton Falls: 181
• Union Beach: 39
• Upper Freehold: 47
• Wall: 292
• West Long Branch: 59