Coronavirus In New Jersey: After 4,000 Deaths, Gov. Murphy Says Calls To Reopen Will Lead To 'Blood On Our Hands'
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - Gov. Phil Murphy was optimistic that New Jersey's number of new coronavirus cases was leveling out, but critics minimizing the ongoing danger from COVID-19 brought out a bit of the governor's wrath.
"We 'untie' the system right now, there will be blood on our hands," said Murphy in his daily briefing on Saturday. "I want to make sure folks understand that this is literally life and death."
Overnight updates saw 3,026 new COVID-19 cases and 231 deaths. There are now 81,420 confirmed coronavirus cases across the Garden State, leading to 4,070 total deaths linked to COVID-19-related illnesses.
"I just saw the following post by the surrogate in Atlantic County, and let me just say folks, let's be very careful with statements like this: 'Atlantic county officials need to sound the alarm, reopen New Jersey immediately without restrictions,'" read Murphy. "'Trust American freedom, ingenuity and the US Constitution. Untie the hands of the private sector so it can rescue New Jersey from this nightmare.' By the way, 19 persons have died from COVID-19 in Atlanta County. What we need now is responsible leadership. We do not need irresponsible leadership."
Among other numbers shared Saturday:
- 7,718 patients hospitalized
- 2,024 in critical care or ICUs
- 1,641 on ventilators
- 90 patients at field medical stations
- 814 discharged from hospitals
The hotzones for COVID-19 remain in the North Jersey counties:
- Bergen County: 12,163 confirmed cases (741 deaths)
- Hudson County: 9,956 confirmed cases (434 deaths)
- Essex County: 9,901 confirmed cases (732 deaths)
- Union County: 8,959 confirmed cases (356 deaths)
- Passaic County: 7,936 confirmed cases (243 deaths)
- Middlesex County: 7,624 confirmed cases (313 deaths)
- Ocean County: 4,548 confirmed cases (212 deaths)
- Monmouth County: 4,528 confirmed cases (221 deaths)
- Morris County: 3,984 confirmed cases (255 deaths)
- Somerset County: 2,283 confirmed cases (146 deaths)
- Mercer County: 2,215 confirmed cases (110 deaths)
- Camden County: 1,918 confirmed cases (73 deaths)
- Burlington County: 1,456 confirmed cases (57 deaths)
- Gloucester County: 683 confirmed cases (23 deaths)
- Sussex County: 626 confirmed cases (55 deaths)
- Warren County: 543 confirmed cases (39 deaths)
- Hunterdon County: 391 confirmed cases (17 deaths)
- Atlantic County: 382 confirmed cases (19 deaths)
- Cumberland County: 272 confirmed cases (4 deaths)
- Cape May County: 199 confirmed cases (14 deaths)
- Salem County: 105 confirmed cases (4 deaths)
Murphy said he continues to hear people compare COVID-19 to previous influenza outbreaks, which also caused deaths but from which New Jersey recovered without social distancing or shutting down schools and businesses.
"Let me speak in particular directly to anyone who is sticking to this way of thinking, and I can't put it more bluntly," said Murphy. "Yes, New Jerseyans die of the flu every year, but the flu has not caused the devastation that we are seeing, especially among our most vulnerable populations.
"Look at the long-term care facilities, look at our veterans' homes if you need any proof to this," he said. "We have lost 4,070 blessed New Jerseyans to COVID-19. That's more than the CDC statistics show that we have lost over the past three flu seasons in their entirety combined."
Lack of an effective treatment also makes the current strain of coronavirus more deadly.
"We have vaccines that can protect against the flu," he said. "We have proven anti-flu therapies. We are at least a year away, if not longer, from a vaccine for COVID-19, and currently, while there's some good promising early-stage trials underway, there currently are no proven therapeutics. This is a pandemic, the likes of which we haven't seen in a century."
Additionally, an individual who led a protest against the state's stay-at-home order is now facing charges for violating that order.
