Free Republic

Gov. Phil Murphy painted a dire outlook for New Jersey public-worker jobs on Saturday afternoon, pleading for more financial aid to lift a state economy that has been cratered by the coronavirus. “We will have layoffs that will be historic,” Murphy warned, as he called for Congress to send more direct aid to states, and as he urged state lawmakers to help him borrow billions of dollars. He added that the layoffs would be felt through New Jersey, at the state, county and local levels. “That’s what’s at stake. I don’t know how many, but it is big, big numbers,”...

Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday launched into a fiery takedown of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for saying state and local governments with cratered finances because of the coronavirus pandemic should be allowed to file for bankruptcy rather than rely on federal aid. “Come on, man,” Murphy said. “That is completely and utterly irresponsible. There’s no level of responsibility associated with that. And I don’t care what party you’re in.” “Because that won’t happen,” the governor said. “We won’t go bankrupt. You have my word we won’t go bankrupt.” But without federal aid, Murphy said, states will be forced...

A 48-year-old woman who authorities called the leader of a protest Tuesday in Trenton demanding Gov. Phil Murphy reopen the state despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic was issued a summons accusing her of violating the state’s lockdown orders, the State Police said. Stephanie Hazelton, of Medford, was charged with violating Executive Order No. 104, which in part bans large gatherings in the state during the crisis. No other protesters were charged and Hazleton was released after being given the summons, according to Trooper Alejandro Goez, a State Police spokesman. “The troopers showed a tremendous amount of restraint,” Col. Pat Callahan,...

A retired professor known for espousing antisemitic views to his students has died in a house fire. That’s no moon A 79-year-old Woodbury resident died early Tuesday morning after a fire broke out in the 19th century house on Route 32 where he had lived for 34 years. Clyde Magarelli, a retired professor who had taught sociology for five decades at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., lived alone and was the only person in the house during the fire. Woodbury Fire Chief Scott McClennan Jr. said at the scene that the fire initially was reported around 4:15 a.m. by passing...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The coronavirus could be a literal game changer once America's casinos reopen. Many decisions remain to be made. But prepare to have your temperature scanned at the door. Maybe a half or third of slot machines will work. Every other table could be closed, and there could even be plexiglass barriers between dealers and customers or separating slot machines. Dealers and servers and customers - including those who smoke - all could be required to wear masks in many places. Workers may be standing by to wipe down slot machines, kiosks and even elevator buttons as...

Two months ago, North Wildwood motel owners Bill and Kathy Crane were preparing in full force for their 19th season in business. They paid for new carpeting for their motel, The Sandpiper, and were beginning heavy cleaning in the rooms. But as the coronavirus spread throughout the region, the Cranes realized opening would be a problem. On Friday, the pair announced the motel would close for the summer of 2020, citing the health safety concerns of guests and staff. “We get people from all over, New York and Canada,” said Bill Crane. “We couldn’t risk something happening over profit. You...

New Jersey is still “a number of weeks away” from starting to reopen from the near lockdown restrictions to slow the spread the coronavirus, Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday morning. Murphy also said he is still deciding whether the state will reopen as a whole or whether it could be a regional approach. New Jersey has “suffered an extraordinary toll and loss of life," Murphy said while appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, after the show’s host noted the death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed the combined total number of people in the state who died fighting in Vietnam,...

Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday he’ll give New Jerseyans a “broad blueprint” by the end of the week on how the state will begin to reopen from the near-lockdown orders he put in place to combat to the coronavirus and return to “some new normalcy.” The governor said the announcement won’t include a specific date on when people can expect to have the unprecedented restrictions lifted, but it will include key benchmarks that must be met, including the availability of broader testing. Murphy said during his daily briefing in Trenton he would unveil “principles” that “will guide us ... as...

Gov. Phil Murphy painted a dire outlook for New Jersey public worker jobs on Saturday afternoon, pleading for more financial aid to lift a state economy that has been cratered by the coronavirus. “We will have layoffs that will be historic,” Murphy warned, as he called for Congress to send more direct aid to states, and as he urged state lawmakers to help him borrow billions of dollars. He added that the layoffs would be felt through New Jersey, at the state, county and local levels. “That’s what’s at stake. I don’t know how many, but it is big, big...

Five Catholic schools in southern New Jersey are closing permanently because of financial problems made worse by the coronavirus pandemic, the Diocese of Camden announced Friday. The schools will be shuttered at the end of the academic year, and include Saint Joseph Regional High School in Hammonton, a south Jersey football powerhouse. Together, they educate 745 students, but have seen their enrollment drop significantly in recent years, making them financially unviable, the diocese said. “The decision to close these schools is sobering and painful,” the diocese said in a statement posted on its website. “It has not been made lightly.”...

TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey residents hoping to emulate anti-‘stay at home‘ protests in other states including Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming and Virginia were thrown a curveball on Thursday when Facebook shut down their event page. The “Open New Jersey” rally – planned for Tuesday, April 28th at the Trenton War Memorial – was informed by Facebook that its event page violated the social media platform’s community standards. Specifically, Facebook warned that it was “coordinating harm and promoting crime.”

New Jersey will likely be under strict social-distancing orders to fight the spread of the coronavirus for the next six weeks before restrictions could begin to be pulled back and some semblance of normalcy returns to day-to-day living, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday evening. Think more like June or July, not May, Murphy said. “I personally think in the warmer weather, we could begin to find our footing, assuming again that we’ve got the health care infrastructure, especially broad-scale testing, that we’re going to need to give us that confidence,” the governor said during an appearance on MSNBC. “I think...

A known Florida scammer is wanted by New Jersey authorities for allegedly calling in thousands of dollars worth of phony pizza orders in the state, claiming the food was being donated to the police, authorities said. Sudeep Khetani, 34, who is believed to be in Orlando, never paid for any of the orders that he placed at several Garden State pizzerias, including in South Brunswick, Montgomery and Plainsboro, according to the South Brunswick Township Police Department.

A week ago, I posted Early Observations on the Pandemic and Population Density, which suggested that the more worrying experience with the COVID-19 virus in the New York City metropolitan area could result from more intense person-to-person contacts: …the risk of infection is a function of being close to people who are infected.The most fundamental issue is thus, how close people are to one-another in their daily lives. The risk of infection can be expected to be higher where there are very high densities whether in residences, transport or employment locations. Jason Fox of Bloomberg, countered that weighted “metropolitan area”...

Murphy said he hopes people "get asked to leave" if they're not wearing a mask or face covering inside a store. But the Murphy administration clarified the rule, saying if somebody enters a supermarket without one, they can still access the store – espcially if there is a medical reason – only the store can limit their time and contact.

If a person declines to wear a mask for medical reasons, the business’ staff can’t ask the person to show medical documentation verifying their condition.

(NJ) Paramus veterans home in crisis mode: 37 people dead in 2 weeks, National Guard deployed

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New Yorkers who die at home are not being tested for COVID-19, even if they had flu- or coronavirus-like symptoms at the time of death, which is likely leading to a massive underreporting of COVID-19 fatalities. ..... A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office told Gothamist that an additional 200 people are dying at home each day, in addition to the 20 to 25 people that died at home each day before the pandemic.

Gov. Phil Murphy insisted Monday New Jersey residents need to continue to strictly adhere to his orders to stay home and practice social distancing to fight the coronavirus outbreak, but said officials are beginning to see some encouraging news as he offered projection charts for the peak in coronavirus cases for the first time. “What you’re doing is making a difference. We have enough data now to say that comfortably,” Murphy said, while cautioning that any wavering in that effort could produce disastrous results. “We’ll be overwhelmed, like a tsunami,” Murphy said, referencing a worst case scenario. State officials are...

A combination of anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), the generic name is Plaquenil, and Azithromycin appear to be effective in treating COVID-19 patients. While Dr. Anthony Fauci wants to wait for studies that could take up to a year, there simply isn’t time. Anecdotal evidence from several countries, including China and France, suggest it is effective.