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The governor realizes the bill allowing the bonding was passed quickly along party lines, and Republicans are vowing a court fight. But he says these are dire times comparable to the Great Depression.
“We had made the first deposit in a decade into the rainy day fund,” Murphy told reporters in Trenton. “But today it is pouring. This is a historically unprecedented fiscal crisis.”
On the health front, Murphy knows how hot it’s going to be over the next several days, and people will be heading out.
But given New Jersey is keeping new COVID-19 cases and deaths down while many states are spiking higher, he insists now is not the time to relax vigilance in adhering to orders to distance and wear a mask.
If you want proof those measures are working, the governor suggests you compare New Jersey’s viral numbers these days to other places across America.
“In California, and frankly right next door in Pennsylvania, restrictions that had been relaxed have been tightened back again,” Murphy added. “This is one reason why we have been so careful and deliberate in our approach, even when some didn’t like what we had to say and we understand that. But I do not want us to have to go back to where we were. We’ve been through hell and we don’t want to go through hell again.”
New Jersey reported 20 additional deaths Friday and 202 new cases, bringing statewide numbers since the pandemic began to over 176,000 cases and more than 13,700 fatalities. In South Jersey, over 1,600 deaths have been confirmed with positive cases topping 23,700.
State health officials also announced that starting Monday, people flying into New Jersey will be asked to fill out electronic surveys to better track their movements, particularly if they live or traveled from other hot spots across America.
They are not required to fill those surveys out.