The Garden State's employment level declined 6.3% since 2019, according to Pew Charitable Trusts, placing it ahead of only Rhode Island, California, Hawaii and Nevada.

With full federal approval of one of the three COVID-19 vaccines being used across the nation, state leaders and public health officials are optimistic that more people will finally get the shot after months of holding out. And businesses are now entering into previously difficult terrain and are requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for their workers, and even in some cases for their customers and guests.

The BD Veritor is an over-the-counter, rapid antigen diagnostic that uses computer vision technology in a smartphone to interpret and provide a digital display of testing results without a prescription, laboratory or long wait.

Metrics like new daily cases, the positivity rate among tests, fatalities and the rate of transmission - or how fast the virus spreads - have also climbed over the summer as the delta variant drives surges of the virus among those in the state who are not vaccinated.

Officials estimate the initiative has enabled nonprofits to use the previous $14 million of grants to buy over 3.5 million meals from more than 350 pandemic-hit restaurants across the state during some of the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic for its neediest residents.

By all accounts, 2020 was chaotic and dramatically different than any year in recent memory. As spending habits changed with New Jerseyans staying home and more aware of public health, this year's Top 250 Privately Held Businesses list shows the biggest movers and shakers during the height of the pandemic.

Restaurateurs and caterers around the state admit to feeling a sense of anxiety about the effects of the delta variant on their businesses, as delays in restoring supply chains and labor shortages continue to plague the industry and hinder its full recovery.

When its business dried up, InCharged - which sets up branded cell phone charging stations at music festivals, trade shows, and other large-scale events - switched gears with its disinfection technology subsidiary LuxDisinfect.

For No. 69 on the NJBIZ Top 250 Privately Held Companies list Del-Sano Contracting Corp. revenue from 2020 was, despite obvious challenges, better than most years due to the continuation of "essential" projects, said Angelo Del Russo, who started his construction company in 1975, including a building associated with New Jersey City University in Jersey City and another for Felician University in Rutherford.

“The current trajectory of new infections shows some of the fastest spread of COVID that we have seen since the spring of 2020,” said New Jersey Hospital Association President and CEO Cathy Bennett. “The new variants are more contagious. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated to stop the spread of COVID-19 and avoid further impact to our schools and businesses, as well as our patients, visitors and health care professionals.”

The Montclair eatery is the second establishment in the state to ask patrons to show proof they've been inoculated in order to dine indoors.

Two South Jersey Democratic state senators are signing on to a mostly Republican-led effort to use American Rescue Plan money to prevent an increase in N.J. employers' unemployment levy.