Announced State of emergency to help NJ coronavirus | NJ coronovirus Hotline
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has declared a state of emergency as the state works to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The New Jersey novel coronavirus mitigation plan is evolving, and being adjusted on the fly, as new reports of the virus are being tabulated every day.
Garden State residents should be ready for possible policy changes state Health Department officials said a coronavirus news conference on Monday afternoon — just hours before Gov. Phil Murphy declared the state's first-ever public health emergency.
That designation does not, in itself, restrict travel or close any public or private offices. All 21 counties in the state are under an emergency declaration, allowing state agencies and departments to utilize state resources to assist affected communities responding to and recovering from COVID-19 cases.
Broadly, it makes certain state resources available more easily and allows agencies to waive requirements that might normally slow down their responses.
State Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said as the number of new coronavirus cases continues to increase, “now it’s time to consider the addition of strengthening mitigation interventions on a case-by-case basis.”
The Commissioner said mitigation “can go pretty far depending on the community spread.”
That might mean more in the northern part of the state than in the south, for instance, if cases remain clustered there. A total of eleven presumptive positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in New Jersey to date.
Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver announced five new coronavirus cases on Monday afternoon. Persichilli noted in many instances involving infectious diseases, including the recent uptick of measles cases in New Jersey, “there were clusters but we didn’t shut everybody down — you know, you work with the progression of the disease in an area.
Another 24 cases are under investigation in state labs, Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. State officials do not know how many are being investigated in private labs, Persichilli noted.
The following details were released about the patients:
An 18-year-old from Clifton City, Passaic County who experienced an onset of symptoms on March 6. The patient is not hospitalized, Persichilli said. It's possible the individual was exposed to COVID-19 on March 2 after close contact with a known positive case in New York.
She stressed however “if we start seeing outbreaks in all 21 counties, if we see exponential increase over time in those counties, yeah, we may say this is a statewide effort.”
As of Monday, state officials had announced 11 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus — "presumptive" until further confirmation by the Centers for Disease control, but assumed to be positive nonetheless. That included Monmouth County's first two cases.
The individual is an inpatient at Overlook Medical Center. Exposure was symptomatic friends who traveled from Milan, but the friends tested negative for COVID-19, Persichilli said. She noted that the circumstances around this case remain under investigation. A 48-year-old Berkeley Heights Township, Union County individual who experienced an onset of symptoms March 1.
Exposure to COVID-19 came from Biogen conference that the person attended in Boston between Feb. 24 and Feb. 28. It's reported that 170 attendees from that conference have tested presumptive positive. 27-year-old individual from Little Silver Borough, Monmouth County who had an onset of symptoms February 29. The patient is not hospitalized, Persichilli said.
83-year-old from Hazlet Township, Monmouth County who experienced an onset of symptoms on March 3. The individual is an inpatient at Bayshore Medical Center, Persichilli said. Exposure to COVID-19 is unknown.
The individual is hospitalized at Holy Name Medical Center. Exposure to COVID-19 is unknown. 30-year-old individual from Teaneck Township, Bergen County, who experienced an onset of symptoms March 3.
She said one possible mitigation effort is ‘social distancing’ — which can include “workplace accommodations, telecommuting, school closures and or dismissals, daycare center closures, screening visitors at long-term care facilities.”
Persichilli said on Tuesday the state's Coronavirus Task Force will be meeting and discussing possible mitigation criteria, what will be needed at what specific point if novel coronavirus continues to spread. The new cases prompted two school districts to shut down this week.
Three other individuals are being treated for the coronavirus in Bergen County, including a woman in her 30s, a man in his 30s and a man in his 50s.
A presumptive positive case means a sample tested positive at a state lab and has been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation.
Princeton University said Monday it is restricting large gatherings and urging students to remain home after spring break and take classes online in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus, even though the school currently has no confirmed cases.
Murphy last month set up a task force to prepare for handling the virus and a crisis management team has been meeting daily.
"It's a pity, but we're going to have to adjust for a few weeks," said Alejandro Sabal, a graduate student from Spain.
"I believe the university has all the assets to do this online stuff so I don't think there's any reason to gather together to have lecture and take the risk," said Chansik Yoon, a first year grad student from South Korea.
"I imagine I will go home and work on my thesis from there and attend classes remotely," said Frantz.
