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UPDATED: 3:50 p.m.
Democrats Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said they will move any necessary legislation and supplemental appropriations to get the state through the rest of the fiscal year.
The change in the income tax filing deadline mirrors what the federal government announced last month.
The details of the budget are unclear. Murphy had proposed a $40.9 billion spending plan that called for increased spending for schools, public pensions and New Jersey Transit, but the economic impact the virus will have on state finances looks dire given a sharp rise in unemployment claims.
Murphy also announced at a Wednesday press briefing that the state has extended the fiscal year to Sept. 30.
Small businesses seeking grants from the state can start applying for them on Friday. For more information, click here.
New cases and deaths
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
In North Jersey, Health Commissioner Judith Persichelli said seven hospitals had to divert incoming patients for various reasons.
“Some due to overcrowding in their emergency rooms and some due to overall high census. We also got a call from two hospitals that they required ventilators,” she said.
More ventilators
The governor has said that ventilators are the No. 1 need. He says the state needs at least 2,300 ventilators from the federal government, "and I won't stop fighting to get us more."
More testing sites
Drive-thru testing has begun in Camden, with some 60 tests a day available for those who make an appointment through their physician.
Virtua and Cooper health systems are working together to man this site in Cooper's Poynt Park, in the shadow of the Ben Franklin Bridge, until at least April 15.
"We had to come together to best serve Camden," Virtua Executive Vice President Doctor Reg Blaber told reporters at a briefing before the opening. "In this moment of national crisis, we can’t serve separately and apart, but we have to come together to combine our resources, combine our knowledge, combine our best practices and that’s exactly what we’ve done."
The site will be open Monday through Friday from noon to 4. Officials say walk ups without an appointment may be accommodated if they are showing symptoms.
So far, the numbers show South Jersey at far lower infection rates than North Jersey. Congressman Donald Norcross concedes there's been far less testing here than there, but then again, North Jersey had the same problem when all this started.
"They had no testing, but their numbers, the raw numbers, are extremely higher up there. Almost 20 to 1. Our hospitals would be overloaded if we were doing it the same way," he said.
The county is still working on a plan to open a testing site at Camden County College in Blackwood, but they depend on FEMA for supplies and initial staffing, so that may take a while.
Two other county-sponsored sites opened Wednesday.
A Middlesex County drive-thru site operates at the Kilmer Vehicle Inspection Center in Edison on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
And an Ocean County testing site operates at Ocean County College in Toms River Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Atlantic City courts NBA playoffs
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. confirmed in a Facebook Live briefing on Tuesday that he is trying to bring the NBA Playoffs to Boardwalk Hall.
He wasn't able to say much more than "we're trying."