Better Late Than Never, GOP Senator Says As NJ Lifts COVID Mandate – Montclair, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — After she learned that Gov. Phil Murphy was lifting the COVID-19 testing requirement for unvaccinated school employees, child care staff and state contractors, Sen. Kristin Corrado offered a short-but-biting reaction to the news.

“Better late than never,” the Republican senator quipped in a tweet.

Corrado, who represents the state’s 40th District in the state Legislature – including several towns in Essex County – is among a vocal group of GOP lawmakers who have been calling for the governor to nix the required testing for educators and child care centers.

Their demands became reality on Monday when Murphy signed an executive order. It will apply to school districts and child care settings immediately, and to state contractors as of Sept. 1. Employers in these sectors can still maintain a vaccination or testing policy as they see fit going forward. Read More: New Jersey To Drop COVID Testing Mandates (See Latest Details)

The changes come days after the CDC scaled back COVID guidelines, which include changes to social distancing and quarantine protocols. The agency also ended its recommendation for routine daily screening in schools, though it can be reinstated in situations with a surge of infections, the agency said.

“With children as young as 6 months old now eligible for vaccines and millions of New Jerseyans vaccinated and boosted, more of our residents are safe from severe illness due to COVID-19,” Murphy said in a statement. “As always, I encourage everyone to stay up-to-date on their vaccination and take other precautions as necessary to protect themselves and their loved ones from this virus.”

Just days prior to Monday’s executive order, Corrado released a statement that called on Murphy to “immediately” lift the mandate in the wake of the CDC’s decision.

“It’s been clear for some time that forcing healthy teachers and school employees to submit to burdensome and expensive COVID testing was unnecessary,” Corrado said. “Now that the CDC has changed its guidance, Governor Murphy has absolutely no excuse to continue dragging his feet on lifting his testing mandate. He should do it today.”

On Monday, Corrado tweeted the following message:

“We’ve been calling for Gov. Murphy to lift his unnecessary testing mandate for months. Glad he’s finally listening. Better late than never.”

Corrado has sponsored legislation (S-2550) that would have removed the requirement for weekly COVID testing for school district employees who are not vaccinated. Two weeks ago, she sent a letter to Murphy urging him to end the mandate before the start of the upcoming school year.

The recently redistricted 40th District includes the following municipalities: Franklin Lakes, Ridgewood and Wyckoff in Bergen County; Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Fairfield, North Caldwell and Verona in Essex County; Hawthorne, Little Falls, Totowa, Wayne and Woodland Park in Passaic County.

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