NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New Jersey reported its second death from the coronavirus on Saturday as the state reported 19 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 69.
"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," Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted Saturday night. "Please wash your hands frequently and practice social distancing. We will get through this together."
The first death was a 69-year-old man from Bergen County who died earlier his week.
Among the new cases are 21 in Teaneck, where there is a cluster of cases, Gov. Phil Murphy said in a conference call.
Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin said Saturday that he is asking all residents of the town, which has about 40,000 people, to self-quarantine.
Hameeduddin said people have continued to congregate in recent days and that heightens the risk of the virus spreading even more.
"The more people we have in different places, the worse it gets, so we're asking people to take it seriously and stay home," Hameeduddin told 1010 WINS Saturday evening.
He said while no one is under mandatory quarantine, he wants residents to only leave their homes to get food or medicine.
"When we are saying self-quarantine, we're saying, 'hey we don't want people playing basketball at the park together. We don't really want people going out to their karate classes together. We don't want people going to the gym. That's what we don't want," Hameeduddin said.
He said businesses in Teaneck are struggling but that the first priority of the government is "how can we save lives and how can we stop that from spreading."
"I think that for the next two to four weeks, or six weeks, or however long this crisis lasts, business are going to suffer," Hameeduddin said. "The cat is already out of the bag, and we want to make sure we don't spread it more."
Meanwhile, Hoboken Mayor Ravinder Bhalla said Saturday that the first known positive case of coronavirus in the city was a man in his 40s who was being kept in self-isolaton at home.
The announcement came as Hoboken ordered all gyms, day cares, move theaters, playgrounds and ballfields in the city to close over the outbreak; parks will remain open. The city is also suspending street cleaning.
Public and charter schools in Hoboken will be closed for two weeks starting Monday.
On Friday, Murphy said that the state is preparing for closing schools statewide, though he stopped short of taking that step. He said it's a matter of when, not if, they close. State Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet said some 354 districts, or roughly half, in the state have closed already.
The latest coronavirus news from New Jersey:
NEW EQUIPMENT, OTHER MEASURES
Murphy said the federal Health and Human Services Department notified the state it's sending 84,000 respirators, 200,000 surgical masks and 35,000 face shields. The state's hospitals are facing dwindling supplies, according to Persichilli.
Murphy also said state regulators have suspended the ability of utilities to shut off services to residents during the outbreak.
He is also pushing back driver's license and vehicle registration deadlines by two months.
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LEGISLATION PENDING
New Jersey lawmakers have set votes on legislation aimed at helping residents deal with the pandemic, as well as altering their own schedules.
The Democratic-led Assembly canceled committee hearings except for one that will consider the coronavirus legislation. The full Assembly is also planning to vote on the legislation once it emerges from committee. The Democratic-led Senate is holding hearings Monday but said the meetings would be closed to the public.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Republican leader Jon Bramnick announced bipartisan legislation Thursday that includes measures to permit remote or virtual classroom learning to count toward the 180-day school year requirement.
Other bills are aimed at ensuring that free and reduced lunches continue if schools are closed; requiring insurers to cover COVID-19 testing, setting aside funds for schools to reimburse for the cost of cleaning; and ensuring that no workers are fired as a result of being quarantined.
The announcements came as New Jersey and other states ramp up mitigation efforts, including the closure of schools, to confront the new virus that emerged in China late last year.
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ARCHDIOCESE SHUTTERS
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, said the Roman Catholic Church there is freeing people from the religious obligation to attend Mass until further notice. The archdiocese's schools will also be closed until March 20, the cardinal said.
Churches will remain open, and Mass will continue to take place, however, he added.
He also said weddings, baptisms and funerals will still take place but urged people to limit the number of people attending.
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PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The state Education Department says 207 of the state's more than 600 school districts have closures. Most are for teacher training, but a handful are because of confirmed or possible exposure to the corona virus.
Nine schools have had possible exposure to the virus, according to a department tally. Three have had closed because of the exposure to someone who had the virus. One school district closed because a student had tested positive.
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