TRENTON – Ensuring resiliency, a responsible economic restart, securing safe places for isolation, expanded testing, sustained reduction in new cases and implementing robust contact tracing were all part of the governor’s six-point road map to reopening New Jersey.
During his April 27 press conference, Gov. Phil Murphy spoke about steps that would be taken within the next five weeks to gradually reopen the Garden State.
“We have a great confidence that social distancing and other norms will help this,” the Governor said, adding that schools won’t be opening any time soon.
“As we look at the curve of new COVID-19 cases, it remains flat, but as we will discuss in a few moments, before we can get ourselves on the road to recovery, we need this curve to bend down and stay down,” Murphy said. He reported that 106 new deaths were attributed to the coronavirus that meant a total of 6,044 residents succumbed to COVID-19.
Ventilator use continues to trend downward, to 1,303 currently in use – this is down 18 percent from a week ago. There were 314 new hospitalizations on April 26, and the trend line continues “to point in the right direction and, for the 24 hours preceding 10 p.m. last night, our hospitals reported 480 total discharges. We continue to see discharges exceed new admissions.
“This data, which we receive and report every day, is the measuring stick of our progress against COVID-19,” Gov. Murphy added.
“Our progress to date has been driven by the hard work of tens of thousands of dedicated health care professionals and first responders.”
Discussing his vision to put the state on the road to recovery he prefaced, “there is still much work to be done. If we let up even one bit with our aggressive social distancing measures too soon – even one day too soon – we can easily see ourselves skidding off this road.”
Gov. Murphy stressed, “public health creates economic health. That’s the order in which we must proceed. It means that before we reopen non-essential stores and businesses, before we can reopen our parks, or before we allow in-person dining in our restaurants – among any host of other activities – people need to know, first and foremost, that their health will be safeguarded from COVID-19.
“With that principle as our starting point, we can put ourselves on The Road Back – with a clear vision for moving forward, and guided by objective metrics and mileposts we must meet to move forward. The Road Back is driven by data, science, health progress, and common sense. We will use rigorous standards that are equally smart and thoughtful,” he added.
“This road map is designed with one goal only – to restore the health, strength, and well-being of New Jersey for the long-term. Until we give the public confidence that they should not be fearful, we cannot take further steps. A plan that is needlessly rushed is a plan that will needlessly fail,” Murphy said adding that he will wait until May 15 to announce whether schools will reopen during the current school year.
The governor mentioned his conversation with Linda Goler Blount, President and CEO of the Black Women’s Health Imperative. “We know from the data that COVID-19 has had an outsized impact on our communities of color. So, we must not only ensure that these communities can thrive again, our system must ensure equity as we get to that point.
“COVID-19 did not create the inequalities in our society. But, it laid them bare. So, this is also our opportunity to help close those gaps,” Gov. Murphy added.
The governor noted that recovery wasn’t just about New Jersey. “For us to rush ahead of either Pennsylvania or New York, or any of our other four state partners – or vice versa – would risk returning our entire region back into lockdown mode.
“This doesn’t mean that we will, or even can, take every step at the exact same time, or in the exact same way, as our neighbors but, we will share information and make decisions based on the guidance of our public health and security experts, and with an eye on our north star, which is to protect lives across our seven states and across our nation,” he said.
The governor said that when the state has accomplished the “six principles that will keep New Jersey on the road back – using renewed public health to create renewed economic health; following trends of sustained reductions in new COVID-19 cases and other key metrics reflecting a decreasing burden of disease; expanding testing capacity and speeding-up the return of results; robust contact tracing; and ensuring safe places where those positively diagnosed in the future can isolate – we can move to principle number five, responsibly restarting our economy to restore our economic health and, to secure our future, we move to principle number six – ensuring our resiliency.”
The Stay-at-Home Order which has been in effect since March 21, will remain in effect in its entirety until further notice. “For us to move out from underneath this order, we will need to see, at the least, a sustained reduction in the number of new positive COVID-19 test results, new COVID-19 related hospitalizations, and other metrics. We also will need to see our hospitals step down from functioning under a crisis standard of care,” he said.
“We will need to look across a length of time, and to not be distracted by statistical noise. We need to ensure we have a robust and fully functioning healthcare system ready to meet the challenges ahead. And, it’s not just our hospitals, but also ambulatory facilities, long term care facilities, provider practices – everywhere health care is delivered,” he added.
Gov. Murphy said the state was actively working toward doubling diagnostic testing capacity by the end of May, and having everything in place – from the kits themselves to the lab capacity necessary to ensure quick turnaround of results.
“We will prioritize testing for health-care workers, other essential workers, and vulnerable populations and we will ensure those who test positive will be linked to a health care provider,” he said.
“Our system will also be prepared to engage in targeted surveillance testing within communities, to further protect against the resurgence of COVID-19 and to build datasets that can help us better understand its spread,” Murphy said.
“To achieve these aims, we will need significant support from our federal partners, and we will continue to expand our partnerships with private-sector labs, and with institutions like Rutgers,” he said. There is also a need to recruit and deploy an army of contact tracers whose sole purpose will be to identify these individuals, so medical staff can follow-up and ensure they do not contribute to further spread of COVID-19.
According to national guidance, a proper program will require anywhere from 15 to 81 persons engaged in contact tracing for every 100,000 residents.
The governor said this means between roughly 1,300 to more than 7,000 people to take on this work. But, the state are is engaging a number of tech companies to decrease the need for personnel and to make these personnel more accurate.
“We will need to provide those who do test positive in the future with a safe and free place to isolate themselves and protect others from COVID-19. We must also be prepared to support these people with wrap-around services, as needed,” the governor added.
The governor said “when we restart our economy, we will see new COVID-19 cases. That much we are sure about. Our goal will be to prevent these new cases from multiplying.”
The governor will be announcing the formation and the members of the Governor’s Restart and Recovery Commission involving economists, business leaders, labor leaders, and health care experts among them, with local, national, and global experience and knowledge.
“It will be their task to balance multiple competing needs to ensure we arrive at equitable decisions that work for every community in our state. I want nothing more than to see every Main Street filled with shoppers and diners once again. I want our construction sites roaring with activity once again. I want to see the shore humming through the summer,” Gov. Murphy said.
“We cannot think of COVID-19 as a one-and-done. Ensuring New Jersey’s resiliency for the next outbreak – and that no one will be left unprotected because of racial or socio-economic status – must be part of our response to this outbreak. COVID-19 showed no favorites in ravaging our state, and neither will we in preparing for the next wave,” he said.
“This is a plan for how we move forward – not if we move forward,” he said. “So, let’s do this together. Let’s start by lowering the curve. We can do this if we all keep focus over the coming weeks. And, when we do this, it will be that much sooner that we are able to reach our destination.”
