The spread of COVID-19 crept to its highest level in nearly three months, health officials said, as the state scrambles to stave off a surge of the virus similar to those being seen across the country.

As of July 15, the COVID-19 rate of transmission reached 1.11, a month after outdoor dining resumed, followed by a slew of reopenings including barbershops and nail salons, outdoor recreation, malls and casinos.

“This means that each new positive case is leading to … more than 1 positive case,” Gov. Phil Murphy said at a COVID-19 press briefing Friday afternoon in Trenton.

At the outset of the virus in mid-March, the transmission rate was over 5, meaning that for every person who got COVID-19, they spread it to at least five other people.

Its low-point – prior to June 15’s reopenings – was 0.70, according to the state health department. The rate of transmission first popped above 1 right after the July Fourth weekend for the first time in roughly 10 weeks.

“We need to get [rate of transmission] back down,” Murphy said.

One of the biggest drivers in this new spread is indoor graduation parties attended by people in the age group of 18 to 29 years of age, said state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.

“We have no evidence that the protests, beach activities, parks or graduations have led to anything,” Murphy said. “When we say graduation parties, we mean indoors in people’s houses.”

Another source of the flare-up is travelers coming into New Jersey from one of 22 so-called “COVID-19 hotspot” states, representing over half of the nation’s population.

Under a advisory the state is coordinating with Connecticut and New York, travelers from those areas are advised to self-quarantine for 14 days.

In New Jersey, that is entirely voluntary, and Murphy has stood by the position, saying that the U.S. Constitution prohibits any individual state from enforcing the self-quarantine.

“I would love to be able to stop people and turn them around at our borders whether that’s Newark Liberty or literally at our borders. We can’t. That’s not the way the United States works,” Murphy said earlier this week.

Starting Monday, airplane flights from any of these 22 states will urge passengers to fill out forms with their travel plans, where they’ve been and their contact information, so that they can be contacted by public health officials.

Passengers will be reminded at the airport, while on the flight and once they land that they should take the survey.

Participation is “voluntary” but “expected, Persichilli said. “It is relying on personal responsibility,” she added.

Across the Hudson River in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that people flying into his state, that do not fill out the survey, could be hit with a $2,000 fine.