By Allison Perrine
NEW JERSEY – With so many unknowns about the novel corona virus and how to combat it, one thing is certain social distancing is working, said Gov. Phil Murphy Wednesday afternoon.
Amid a press conference describing how New Jersey’s curve is flattening, Murphy signed an executive order extending the public health emergency by another 30 days to keep the trend going down. Now the emergency, originally declared March 9, will last through June 7.
“Extending this declaration ensures that we can continue using every resource at our disposal to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” said Murphy. “But I want to ensure that this extension is not interpreted to mean that we are reconsidering our path forward or changing course on the principles I laid out last week in the Road Back plan.
We will continue to stand by these principles and protect public health as we responsibly take steps to get the economy moving again.”
Since the state’s first confirmed positive case of COVID-19 March 4, there have been 131,890 cases statewide as of Wednesday, an increase of 1,513 overnight. Of that number, there have been 5,221 total hospitalizations and 8,549 deaths. In the Two River area specifically, that includes Atlantic Highlands, 24; Colts Neck, 67; Fair Haven, 22; Highlands, 25; Holmdel, 208; Little Silver, 32; Middletown, 505; Monmouth Beach, 17; Oceanport, 58; Red Bank, 152; Rumson, 31; Sea Bright, nine; Shrewsbury Borough, 46; and Tinton Falls, 169.
About half of all deaths statewide related to COVID-19 4,261 have been individuals in long- term care facilities, the governor said. That’s why the state is establishing a team to specifically address long-term care and to support the state Department of Health in its efforts to do the same. It will also conduct a two-to-three-week review to protect facilities’ residents and staff members, and will make recommendations on long-term systemic reform, according to Murphy.
The team will be led by Cindy Mann, a 30-year expert in health policy, and Carol Raphael, former CEO and president of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York and the former board chair of AARP.
“We know the long-term care issue has been among our biggest challenges, if not the biggest. The data spells out why we need to undertake these efforts,” said Murphy. “And just as tragically, we have seen some of the industry be slow to respond and adapt to the emergent threat of COVID-19. We intend to hold folks accountable, as we should, and as you would want us to.”
On the other end of the spectrum, looking to the youngest generation, Murphy ordered that all New Jersey schools remain closed for in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic calendar year. All students and staff will continue working through remote learning in the coming weeks. Private schools with longer academic calendars must remain closed until at least June 30, Murphy said Monday. Look for the full story with input from Two River area schools on page 15.
“We reached this conclusion based on the guidance from our public health experts, and with a single goal in mind, the safety and well-being of our children and of our educators, dministrators and staff,” said Murphy. “I had hoped that we could get back to a sense of normal by allowing our children to return to the schools they love, and to be with their friends and classmates. But the reality is that we cannot safely reopen our schools to provide students and families, or faculty and staff, the confidence needed to allow for a return to in-person instruction.”
The state has yet to make a final decision on what will happen with summer education and what it and the 2020-2021 school year will look like for students and teachers.
The article originally appeared in the May 7th – May 13th, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
