By Allison Perrine
NEW JERSEY – The governor took some progressive steps toward easing COVID-19 restrictions this week, as he ordered the reopening of state parks and golf courses effective May 2.
The decision was announced Wednesday as Gov. Phil Murphy reported that the number of daily confirmed positive cases of the virus is decreasing. Things are “clearly beginning to head in the right direction,” he said.
As of Wednesday, the statewide total positive COVID-19 cases was 116,264, with 6,289 hospitalizations and 6,770 deaths. To put that in perspective, Murphy told residents that the death toll from COVID-19 in New Jersey is higher than the deaths of residents in World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, both Gulf wars, Afghanistan and Iraq, Super Storm Sandy and Sept. 11 – combined.
The number of hospitalizations seems to be decreasing in northern and central Jersey but is slightly increasing in the southern part of the state. The number of individuals in intensive or critical care units “remains significantly lower” than it was last week, with a reported 1,811 patients in those units. Ventilator use is also “significantly lower” than last week, with 1,327 in use.
“The data from our hospitals is critical in our engaging our readiness to put our state on the road back,” said Murphy. “They are an important measure of public health and of our health care system status and readiness. These graphs, if they continue to point downward, are all very good signs.”
With that in mind, Murphy announced that he would be signing executive orders to reopen state parks and golf courses. He will allow county governments to decide whether or not they want to open county parks. At these sites, parking will be capped at 50 percent of capacity. Playgrounds, pavilions, visitor centers and restrooms will remain closed. Picnics, team sports and organized activities are still prohibited. Face coverings are recommended.
“To be clear, we cannot have everyone rush out to a park or a golf course. Social distancing will be strongly enforced, and we expect golf course personnel to enforce this requirement,” said Murphy.
He also signed an executive order that will allow petitions seeking to place municipal or county initiatives or referendums on the ballot to be signed electronically, just as the state has allowed for candidate petitions.
“No one, and I mean no one, should be going door-to-door campaigning or collecting signatures,” said Murphy.
On Monday the governor outlined six principles to bring the state back to where it was before COVID-19. The first thing we need, he said, is to see a sustained reduction in new cases. To get there, he ordered stay-at-home mandates in effect until further notice. Once a 14-day trend in decreases appears, the state can move on to the second step – expanding testing.
According to Murphy, the state will need to test people with and without symptoms of the virus to get a better picture of who has been infected. He also hopes to speed up testing results. The goal is to double the current testing capacity and to actively work toward that by the end of May. Testing will first be prioritized for vulnerable populations and health care workers.
Next, Murphy plans to implement robust contract tracing. The state will recruit and deploy an army of personnel who will help identify and follow up with contacts to help people find out if they have potentially been exposed to the virus. This must be done in coordination with local and state health officials, he said.
The fourth principle is to secure safe places for people to isolate themselves. Murphy said it’s inevitable that people will catch the virus after the state reopens. “Even if we bat 1,000, even if we get everything right, we will see cases,” he said.
Once these four steps have been completed, the state can move to the fifth principle, responsible economic restart, followed by the last step, ensuring resiliency. This means that people will need to continue practicing social distancing measures, including potential requirements for face coverings in certain locations.
“If we follow this road, we give ourselves the best possible chance to succeed in the months ahead,” said Murphy.
The article originally appeared in the April 30 – May 6, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
