New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Declares State Of Emergency After Coronavirus Cases Jumps To 11
EWING, N.J. (CBS) -- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has declared a state of emergency after the number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases nearly doubled in the Garden State. Officials say the state now has 11 confirmed cases after announcing five new infections.
The State of New Jersey is committed to deploying every available resource, across all levels of government, to help respond to the spread of COVID-19 and keep our residents informed," Murphy said in a statement. "My Administration will continue to work closely with our federal partners to ensure that local health agencies on the front lines of the state's response are equipped with the resources needed to further prepare our health care system for a broader spread of COVID-19."
Describing the largest daily jump in COVID-19 cases to date, New Jersey health officials announced five new presumptive positive test results on Monday, bringing the total number of cases from six to 11 cases.
"The fact that we're continuing to see additional cases is concerning but it is not unexpected," New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. "It follows the trend that we're seeing around the rest of the country and, in fact, the world."
The five new cases are in northern New Jersey.
Persichilli says one of the cases is a 27-year-old patient from Little Silver Borough who attended a BioGen conference in Boston. Perischilli says 170 attendees of the BioGen conference have tested presumed positive for COVID-19. The patient is not currently hospitalized.
Meanwhile, there are new developments in the one positive case in South Jersey.
Last week, officials said a man in his 60s went to Cooper Urgent Care on Marlton Pike in Cherry Hill and was later admitted to Jefferson Hospital in Cherry Hill.
Officials say four employees from the urgent care are now under home-quarantine for two weeks. Several people in the waiting room were also notified but officials say they do not need to quarantine because they were not in close proximity to the man.
"I know that the urgent care centers were all notified, and that they undertook their own notification of not only their health care workers, and people that were in the waiting room when this case was in the waiting room," Persichilli said.
State health officials say the community spread of the coronavirus is still not established, but they were warning the public to have enough food and medication for two weeks should you come in contact with a patient and need to self-quarantine.
"Self-quarantine and social distancing are important public health measures," Persichilli said.
Officials say you should also be prepared for school closures and changes to travel and large public activities.
