All New Jersey public schools will be ordered on Monday to close because of coronavirus, governor says

Gov. Phil Murphy said he expects to announce Monday that New Jersey will order all of its public schools be shut down until further notice to minimize exposure to the coronavirus.

Murphy said during a telephone briefing with reporters Sunday that an “extended statewide school shutdown is imminent” and will likely be announced at a news conference Monday.

The state will communicate with school officials and other leaders through Monday morning to “ensure a singular message,” the governor said.

Murphy said he wants to make sure school officials, parents, and students have “clear guidance and are pre… Read the rest of this entry »

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NJ Health Commissioner: A family gathering in Monmouth County led to one COVID-19 death and several positive tests

New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said that a family gathering has resulted in one Monmouth County death from COVID-19 and several positive tests for the virus.  The women who died at CentreState Medical Center on Thursday, was related to a sibling of the Bergen County man who died earlier last week.

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Another Little Silver Case of COVID-19 reported

There is a third case of COVID-19 in Little Silver, according to an announcement on the Borough’s website.

In the six days following the first presumptive positive case of coronavirus in Little Silver, the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission has been investigating, tracking down contacts, and attempting to identify anyone who may have been exposed so that further testing can be performed. As previously reported, a close family member of the first patient tested presumptively positive the following day. Since then, we learned today (Saturday) that a single additional person has tested presumptively positive.  The new presumptive positive is an adult female.  How she contracted the virus is the subject of further investigation, and those she has had contact with are being identified and notified. 

 

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Murphy: ‘More draconian steps’ to stop coronavirus spread likely coming to N.J.

As coronavirus cases continue to grow, New Jerseyans can expect “more draconian measures” in the coming days and weeks to prevent its spread in the state, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Sunday morning.

He said people should look to Hoboken and Teaneck, where curfews and calls by local officials to self-quarantine have been put in place, as examples of what to expect as the numbers of people who test positive for the virus rise.“(It’s) the notion of keeping population groupings low,” Murphy said on a morning call to WBLS to discuss the state’s response.“We will be looking at more draconian steps,” he s… Read the rest of this entry »

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Woman in her 50’s dies at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold

Sad to announce our second death of an individual with #COVID19 – a female in her 50s who was being treated at @CentraState Medical Center in Monmouth County.

Please wash your hands frequently and practice social distancing. We will get through this together.

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 15, 2020

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President Donald Trump tests negative for coronavirus, his doctor says

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has tested negative for the new coronavirus, according to the president’s personal physician.

The White House released the test results Saturday night after Trump told reporters hours earlier that he had taken the coronavirus test, following days of resisting being screened despite the fact that he had been in recent contact with three people who have tested positive for the virus.

Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on Saturday that he had his temperature taken and it was “totally normal,” shortly before stepping into the room to discuss the g… Read the rest of this entry »

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N.J. municipal court sessions suspended over coronavirus concerns

Municipal court sessions in New Jersey will be suspended for two weeks to minimize exposure to the coronavirus, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner announced Saturday.

Anyone scheduled to appear in court between Monday, March 16, and Friday, March 27, to contest a traffic or parking ticket, or a minor local ordinance violation, should wait to receive a new court date.

Municipal courts will continue handling items such as temporary restraining orders, hearings in which a defendant has been detained and matters involving public safety, Rabner noted.Attorneys and others still required t… Read the rest of this entry »

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What Trump’s national emergency and new legislation for coronavirus will mean for N.J.

WASHINGTON— Two new pools of federal money will flow to New Jersey to help the state cope with the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump’s national emergency will free up $50 billion in federal funds for New Jersey and other states to tap to help cover their costs of responding to the virus. The president called it “a large amount of money for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease.”

And bipartisan legislation that passed the House early Saturday could mean $810 million in new Medicaid funding for the state, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorit… Read the rest of this entry »

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Trump: Google building self-check website for coronavirus

President Donald Trump announced Friday that internet giant Alphabet is creating a website where people will be able to check whether they have  symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

Verily Life Sciences, once a project in a Google X lab devoted to “moonshot” projects and now its own health business unit, is testing a “tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing,” Google confirmed on Twitter.”Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time,” the tweet said, referring to San Francisco and s… Read the rest of this entry »

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Smith: Stopping coronavirus pandemic and finding a cure, vaccine must be our highest priority—no matter the cost

WASHINGTON, DC – As the House tonight passed its second comprehensive bipartisan bill to combat the coronavirus (COVID 19), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) said that “containing the outbreak, finding a cure and a safe and effective vaccine must be our highestpriority—no matter the cost.”

“We must contain the coronavirus pandemic and protect all people, especially those most vulnerable to the disease such as the elderly and those with serious chronic medical conditions,” said Smith, who strongly supported and voted for the measure hours after President Trump declared the coronavirus a national emergency, opening the door for states and local governments to receive additional federal assistance. Read the rest of this entry »

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