PATRICK OLIVERO
A visitor to the Pier Village boardwalk and her canine companion take a walk during the COVID-19 Pandemic. While Governor Murphy has requested all citizens remain at home, taking walks outside to stay active and enjoy the day are still permitted.
By Allison Perrine
New Jersey continues to scramble for desperately needed additional ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers on the front lines against the COVID-19 pandemic.
In just one night, the number of positive cases rose in New Jersey by 3,649. As of April 1 there were a total of 22,255 cases and 355 deaths across the state, and the number is expected to grow dramatically. Gov. Phil Murphy put his “Uncle Sam hat” on Wednesday and appealed to all health care workers to step forward during this crisis.
“If you’re a health care worker who may have retired, from out of state, a doctor from out of the country… we need you. We need you in a big way,” Murphy said in his daily press conference. “We’ll take folks from anywhere we can find them, as long as they’re properly licensed elsewhere.”
State Commissioner of Health Judy Persichilli said community spread of the coronavirus is “here to stay for a while.” State officials are pleading for additional ventilators from the national stockpile.
According to Murphy, 350 ventilators will soon be brought in from the stockpile, for a total of 850 retained for future cases and infections. Murphy said he will continue to ask the federal government for more ventilators and PPE from the national stockpile, he said, in order to help New Jerseyans through the crisis.
New Jersey residents are encouraged to take self-assessment exams online on the state’s COVID-19 Information Hub webpage at covid19.nj.gov to evaluate their symptoms. Since its launch, nearly 180,000 people have taken the test, Murphy said. The state is only administering swab tests to those who are symptomatic. In the future, Murphy hopes to be able to test all health care workers, symptomatic or not.
With businesses shuttered or operating with remote workers some without a paycheck the state has extended the state income-tax filing deadline and corporation business-tax deadline.
“We want to give folks some breathing room, so extending the state tax deadline from April 15 to July 15 on the surface is a no-brainer and that’s why we want to pursue this,” Murphy said Wednesday.
Murphy worked with Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin to extend the state fiscal year to Sept. 30 to allow the administration and lawmakers to focus on the annual budget.
Firearms retailers are now allowed to operate by appointment only during limited business hours. The decision follows the publishing of federal guidance Saturday night which included those retailers as part of “essential critical infrastructure,” Murphy said Monday.
“It wouldn’t have been my definition but that is the definition at the federal level, and I didn’t get a vote on that,” he said. “We will continue to enforce all of our gun safety laws and all gun owners are reminded of the need to keep their firearms locked in safe storage.”
State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon and Assembly members Serena DiMaso and Gerry Scharfenberger issued a statement saying that while these are trying times, “if a lawful citizen seeks to invoke their Second Amendment Right, they should have the ability to do so. In instances of national security, people buy gold and buy guns. If a citizen wants to do so, as long as they are practicing social distancing and proper hand-washing, that shouldn’t be an issue.”
Local Governments
Municipalities in New Jersey must follow all of the orders enacted in Murphy’s Executive “Stay At Home” Order 107, for the most part. Not included in the order is the status of beach town boardwalks, but some towns have closed them anyway to prevent crowds from gathering.
Sea Bright, Long Branch, Asbury Park, Belmar, Spring Lake and Bradley Beach are among those that have closed their boardwalks.
Belmar Mayor Mark Walsifer said the beaches are still open to give residents “a place to be outside and get some fresh air, but they will be monitored for social distancing adherence.
While some towns have closed playgrounds, many parks remain open.
Restaurants
New Jersey restaurants and eateries are now operating as delivery or pickup services only. Numerous grassroots efforts have formed to support the medical professionals working around the clock.
Middletown restaurant Freshii has kickstarted its #FeedOurFrontlineWarriors effort to provide delivery services and lunches free to emergency department staff at Riverview Medical Center. Representatives hope to extend the effort to Bayshore Medical Center and Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
Churches
The Diocese of Trenton is inviting Catholics to commemorate Palm Sunday April 5 through a virtual livestream, not with a congregation. Palms will not be blessed and distributed because of the risk of contagion, according to the Diocese of Trenton. They will, however, be blessed and made available at a later date yet to be determined.
This article originally appeared in the April 2nd, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
