New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy looks back at 2 years of COVID-19: "There's no playbook for this"
TRENTON, N.J. -- After New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy held his last weekly COVID-19 briefing Friday, he sat down with CBS2's Meg Baker to look back on the past two years of the pandemic as we transition into an endemic.
Murphy held more COVID briefings than any other state leader -- 250 in two years.
"Why was it important for you to stay in constant communication with the public?" Baker asked.
"First, we were hit as hard as any state," Murphy said. "Secondly, making sure we were clear about the record, the facts. And then thirdly, from early on, it hit us, while this was incredibly important to make decisions based on science, data and facts, it could never just be about that, and so we've memorialized usually three people [at] every one of these press conferences. I've just finished the calls with the last handful."
"I'm sure those families really appreciate those phone calls," Baker said.
"They were calls that I will never ever, ever, ever forget. Extraordinary strength of these families," Murphy said.
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The governor's weekly updates come to an end as COVID moves from a pandemic to an endemic.
"Endemic to me is the flu. That's the way I think about it. It never goes to zero. It's in our midst, but we can live a normal life with it in our midst and responsibly," Murphy said. "Do we get an annual booster shot like I get every October for flu? I don't think folks know answer to that yet but that's a possibility."
EXTENDED INTERVIEW: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy looks back at COVID pandemic with CBS2's Meg Baker --
"What are the top two things that government has to do to come back, and what are the top two things that residents can do to come back?" Baker asked.
"Oh my lord, OK. So government, I would say, learn from this. And then secondly, I think we gotta make sure that we get as fulsome a recovery economically as we possibly can, and the budget that I'm gonna present next week has lot of stuff in that that would do that," Murphy said. "Residents, what should they be doing? Enjoy normalcy. Celebrate. Do it responsibly. And I would say secondly, a little bit of a cautionary, there's no playbook for this. We believe we know where it's headed, but I would just say to folks, keep in back of your mind that this thing could take a turn and be prepared for that. Whether that's get boosted, make sure you get a test or some tests at home on hand, keep your face masks somewhere."
Monday marks the end of the mask mandate for children in school. The governor will also lift the public health emergency, marking the end of this phase in the fight against COVID-19.
