UPDATED: 5:07 p.m.
TRENTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey is among several states scrambling to handle the demand for public assistance as unemployment triggered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic rises across America.
More than 362,000 New Jerseyans have filed for assistance in the last two weeks.
Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo suggests we might see a couple more weeks of six-figure consumer claims for help. He says he knows how difficult it is for people to file, but he has a promise.
"Everyone's going to get the benefits that they deserve," Asaro-Angelo said. "Anybody that doesn't get it this week, everything is back-dated to the day you filed or the date you were separated from work. That goes for the regular UI payments as well as the additional $600 approved in the CARES Act."
He's referring to the recently signed federal economic stimulus package that promises additional assistance for many Americans thrown out of work.
Murphy signs medical equipment executive order
New Jersey state police can now commandeer health supplies to address the COVID-19 outbreak under an executive order signed Thursday by Gov. Phil Murphy.
Murphy said he hopes the state will not have to use the power it authorizes.
The order reads, in part:
"The State Director of Emergency Management, who is the Superintendent of State Police, is hereby authorized and empowered to exercise the full authority afforded to the Governor under the Disaster Control Act to take or use personal services and/or real or personal property, including medical resources, for the purpose of protecting or promoting the public health, safety, or welfare. The State Director of Emergency Management shall exercise this authority in consultation with the Commissioner of DOH."
Companies have been voluntarily donating medical equipment, and the first-term Democrat said he's hopeful companies and people will continue doing the right thing.
The order complements an earlier executive order requiring all businesses to submit an inventory of personal protective equipment, including gloves, masks, ventilators and anesthesia machines, Murphy said.
New cases and deathsUPDATE: We’ve received 4,372 new positive #COVID19 cases since yesterday, bringing our statewide total to 29,895.We’ve lost another 113 fellow New Jerseyans to #COVID19 related complications. To date, we’ve lost 646 members of our broad and diverse family.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy)
April 3, 2020 New Jersey is a hot spot for the virus, with 646 deaths and over 29,895 positive cases. Murphy in his daily press briefing on Friday announced 4,372 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and an additional 113 deaths from the respiratory illness.
South Jersey alone has seen more than 1,100 positive cases and at least 23 deaths.
Murphy also announced his signing of another executive order, mandating the lowering of all flags across the state to half staff indefinitely to honor all those who have died from the coronavirus.
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.
New Jersey – What we’re doing IS WORKING. Look at places ignoring social distancing. Our measures are saving lives.You keep staying home. We’ll keep working to expand hospital, ventilator, PPE, and testing capacity. Together we’ll #FlattenTheCurve.https://t.co/OQHWQWq7bi
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy)
April 3, 2020 Murphy also suggested if people want to wear face masks in public, go ahead. But save the N95 masks for health care workers in need of them.
The state has not commandeered emergency items yet under another gubernatorial order, but authorities have bumped up penalties for those violating social distancing orders.
Fines can now go as high as $10,000 paired with jail terms as high as a year and a half.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
