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At his Friday media briefing, the governor announced that coronavirus testing sites at Bergen Community College in Paramus and the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel will now begin testing residents who believe they have been exposed to the virus but are not showing symptoms.
“Expanded access to testing is one of our key principles for getting New Jersey on the road back to restart and recovery,” Murphy said.
At both sites, asymptomatic health care workers, first responders and people who work in congregate living settings will get priority, as well as people who have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive.
In order to maintain priority for front-line workers and vulnerable populations, the governor said New Jersey residents must consult a health care provider before seeking a test.
Murphy signed an executive order to create the Governor’s Restart and Recovery Advisory Council.
The governor said the council will be co-chaired by the state’s Secretary of Higher Education Zakiya Smith Ellis, New Jersey Economic Development Authority CEO Tim Sullivan, and Choose New Jersey President and CEO Jose Lozano, and will include industry, community and faith leaders to represent local needs throughout the state to the Restart and Recovery Commission.
They’ll form nine subcommittees looking into everything from construction to health care, from transportation to tourism and entertainment. Together with a separate commission, they’ll suggest ways the state will get to the new normal often discussed but not clearly defined.
Stressing the human cost, as well as the economic cost, of the coronavirus, Murphy reported 162 more deaths among New Jersey residents. Officials now count a total of 8,952 deaths in the state.
One of those people, said Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli, was a 4-year-old child with pre-existing medical conditions — the first child in the state known to have died as a result of COVID-19.
“It’s unfathomable that it’s a 4-year-old. It’s the only fatality we’ve had under the age of 18, and the blessed 4-year-old had an underlying medical condition,” Murphy said.
Health officials won’t discuss what that condition might have been.
State health officials reported 1,985 new positive cases of the virus, bringing the statewide total to 135,454.
The governor also expects to unveil new viral testing protocols next week, followed by guidance for beach towns for the Memorial Day weekend.
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