NEWARK (1010 WINS) -- Gov. Phil Murphy said on Friday that there were more than 4,000 new cases of coronavirus in New Jersey, bringing the statewide number of cases to nearly 30,000.
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Murphy said 29,895 cases had now been reported in the state—4,372 new cases from the more than 25,000 reported Thursday.
There were 113 new deaths reported as of Friday, bringing the death toll in the state to 646—up from over 500 Thursday.
The governor announced on Friday, that all flags in New Jersey will 'immediately" be lowered to half-staff in honor of those who have died and will die from coronavirus.
New Jersey is about a week behind New York when it comes to the spread of the virus, the governor said.
Murphy said that among those who died was James Brown, a 48-year-old father of three and principal of Grover Cleveland Middle School in Caldwell. Each day the governor has been profiling someone lost to the outbreak.
Murphy said he was signing an executive order directing all flags across the state to be lowered to half-staff indefinitely "to honor those we have lost and those we will lose."
"This is one of the greatest tragedies to ever hit our state. We must have a constant and visible memorial," Murphy tweeted.
Murphy said a possible end to the outbreak is not yet in sight and that people must practice social distancing and good hygiene to flatten the curve.
"It will take all of us, over the coming weeks, to stay disciplined in our social distancing, in our hygiene, and in using our common sense," the governor said.
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