TRENTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey now reports 71,030 positive coronavirus cases, with 3,156 fatalities statewide. In South Jersey, there are 138 deaths among over 4,100 positive test results reported.
As New Jersey deals with the second largest total of COVID-19 cases of any state in the nation, some wonder when things might get back to normal. But officials have a bleak answer.
Gov. Phil Murphy is relentless in his plea for people to continue with social distancing, since that’s what’s helping to flatten the infection curve. As to when we might be able to relax the restrictions a tad, Murphy was sympathetic, but blunt.
“The notion that we’re going to go back to some sort of ‘let’s just turn the clock back to three months ago,’ I just don’t see it. People talk about a new normal and I think that’s a reality,” Murphy said.
A reality in which he fervently hopes there’s a lot more testing available with quicker results, which is why he’s keeping an eye on when Rutgers will be ready to roll out new saliva tests — which was given emergency preliminary approval by the FDA — that residents can administer themselves without a health care professional.
“We are working intensely with Rutgers and specifically now with Middlesex County to roll out this new testing system and we will closely monitor how everything goes,” Murphy said.
