The decision to reopening New Jersey has not been easy for Gov. Phil Murphy. It seems that the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus does not encourage hasty decisions that could have unfortunate consequences.
The high number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the state is making the Governor cautious about setting a timeline for the reopening .
“Nobody is itching more to get this state back up and running than yours truly and the team up here, but we got to do it right,” Murphy said. “We´re making every decision based on the data, the science and the facts,” he added.
The COVID-19 death toll now stands above 8,000 in New Jersey. Many of those victims are residents of nursing homes and other long-term facilities, where health officials announced a plan to test more than 30,000 residents and staff in the coming weeks.
You can read: Phil Murphy announced “The Road Back” to reopen New Jersey
Although many parks, golf courses, and some beaches already opened, Phil Murphy says that much more progress in the fight against coronavirus has to be made before he lifts any more restrictions.
“With all due respect on Memorial Day weekend, I´m sorry for the schools being remote for the rest of the year (…) I’m sorry we can’t give you more definitive guidance yet on things that we’re working on. By the way, non-essential retail I hear morning, noon and night. I appreciate all that. I appreciate all the inputs and the wisdom on beaches. We still have people getting sick, going to the hospital and sadly over 300 we’re reporting have died,” Murphy said.
However, while certain figures continue to climb, there are some signs to be optimistic about the Garden State: the number of people hospitalized stands at a three-week low. The governor also says the time it takes cases to double has climbed above one month in most of the state.
Noticias Newswire
