New Jersey health officials on Wednesday reported another 1,587 confirmed COVID-19 cases and eight confirmed deaths as the state’s rate of transmission increased slightly. The seven-day average for confirmed positive tests was 1,436 on Wednesday, a 10% increase from a week ago and a 34% decrease from a month ago. New Jersey’s rate of transmission on Wednesday was 0.91, up from 0.89 on Tuesday. A transmission rate below 1 is an indication that each new case is leading to less than one additional case. When the transmission rate is 1, that means cases have leveled off at the current numbers, whi…