Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 4/8/2020 – InsiderNJ

As the state experienced its deadliest day yesterday, with the statewide COVID-19 case count increasing by 3,361 cases and 232 fatalities to 41,416 cases and 1,232 deaths, Governor Murphy and state officials held their daily COVID-19 briefing. Murphy continued to encourage social distancing, its going to require many more weeks of staying apart. The Governor signed four executive orders, including: extending the public health state of emergency for another 30 days; ordering the closure of state and county parks (already the subject of growing opposition); extending the statutory deadlines for school districts that moved elections from April to May; waiving the statutory assessment requirements for eighth graders who haven’t yet met the requirement due to COVID-19. NJDOH Commissioner Persichilli reported that 188 long-term care facilities in the state have at least 1 COVID-19 case, and broke down the age ranges and genders of the deceased. ‘These were overly symptomatic people’, said Murphy. The Governor, who’s expected to announce the rescheduling of the state’s June primary, said that ‘people should not be going door-to-door right now‘, urging candidates to use online methods of campaigning.

AG Grewal and State Police Colonel Callahan issued the daily update on charges against violators of the Governor’s executive orders.

CD11 Rep. Sherrill tested negative for COVID-19, following her husband’s positive test last week.

Atlantic County reported 16 new COVID-19 cases and 3 fatalities on Tuesday.

Bergen County has 7,533 COVID-19 cases total as of Tuesday.

Burlington County reported 93 new COVID-19 cases and 3 fatalities on Tuesday.

Camden County reported 97 new COVID-19 cases and 5 fatalities on Tuesday. The county reminded residents to celebrate the Holy Week responsibly.

Cape May County reported a total of 100 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday. The Freeholder Board voted to ban short-term rentals due to COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Press of Atlantic City.

Cumberland County reported a total of 74 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday.

Essex County topped 5,000 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday.

Gloucester County reported 37 new COVID-19 cases and 2 fatalities on Tuesday.

Hunterdon County reported a total of 255 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday.

Mercer County released a town-by-town list of COVID-19 cases. The county announced they are still accepting applications for home energy assistance, and lauded those who are volunteering and working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 efforts. The sudden death of a county employee has temporarily closed the county’s COVID-19 testing site, according to the Trentonian.

Middlesex County released a town-by-town breakdown of 2,680 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday; the NJDOH cites 3,717 cases total as of Tuesday.

Monmouth County reported a total of 2,800 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday. the county will hold its primary ballot drawing on Thursday via livestream.

Morris County reported 2,260 COVID-19 cases total as of Tuesday.

Ocean County reported 2,624 COVID-19 cases total as of Tuesday. The county urged food retailer staff and customers to adhere to social distancing measures.

Passaic County reports nearly 4,000 COVID-19 cases as of Monday. Preakness Healthcare Center announced that four residents passed away due to COVID-19.

Salem County reported a total of 33 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday. The county is planning a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site.

Somerset County topped 1,000 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday.

Sussex County reported 38 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.

Warren County reported a total of 281 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday. A pub is facing the possible revocation of its liquor license for violating the Governor’s executive order.

A NJ doctor describes her fight with COVID-19 on CNN.

Senator Booker urged congressional leaders to include full funding for the Postal Service in the fourth COVID-19 relief package.

Rep. Norcross announced $9M for medical research for the Coriell Institute.

Rep. Sherrill urged the Treasury and SBA to fix issues with the Paycheck Protection Act.

Rep. Payne pushed the FDA to approve an emergency ventilator design.

Rep. Smith announced $2.4M in CARES Act funding for health centers in Lakewood.

Reps. Sires and Payne announced CARES Act funding for Hudson County health centers.

A WalletHub study ranks New Jersey the 5th most aggressive state in combating COVID-19.

ICYMI: State tops 1,000 fatalities; Pence praised Murphy; charges filed against violators; Murphy allows retirees to return to public work; Cape May opening testing center; Gloucester opening testing site; Sussex expressed disappointment w/ lack of fedearl funding; Gottheimer, Oroho pushing for more federal resources for Warren/Sussex; Murphy moment of silence; Murphy: ‘behave as though your positive‘; enforcement actions against violators; businesses violators; Cape May’s first COVID-19 fatality; Murphy: ‘ee’re all in this together‘; Murphy authorizes commandeering of supplies; Senators announce first stimulus funding, $82M from HUD; NJ unemployment apps over 362,000; Murphy: NJ ‘quintessential American state‘, cites ‘social solidarity‘; Murphy’s lessons of crisis leadership; Murphy signed EO removing health professional barriers; Joe D tested positive, Fontoura tested positive; Guv hopes for SALT deduction restoration; gun stores can open; Murphy’s possible ‘Christie-Obama moment‘; Murphy sparred on gun store question

The darling, the technocrat, and the Ph.D.: NY, NJ, and Pa. governors tackle COVID-19

Pranshu Verma of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Cynthia Fernandez of Spotlight PA

• With schools and businesses closed across the region, anxious residents with plenty of time on their hands have a new ritual: watching their states’ daily coronavirus briefings. What once would have been a bureaucratic bore is now must-see-TV, as the worried public clamors for every new detail about the pandemic they can find. In New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, they’ve had to turn to three very different governors for guidance and information.

We could have been ready for this pandemic | Quigley

Joan Quigley, For The Jersey Journal

• This isn’t an “I told you so” column because even I didn’t believe it at the time. After 9/11 when Albio Sires, then Speaker of the General Assembly, created the Homeland Security Committee, we addressed all the security and communication needs that became obvious as so many family, friends and neighbors were killed. All New Jersey felt the pain, but none more so than those of us in Hudson, Essex and Bergen Counties.

Trump’s blindness on Corona echo his failure on climate | Moran

Tom Moran, Star-Ledger

• President Trump on Sunday again pushed an unproven therapy for Covid-19, defying the advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci. It came two days after he said he will not wear a mask, defying the advice of the CDC. Science doesn’t much impress the man.

Coronavirus: It’s no holiday on the shuttered Seaside boardwalk | Mulshine

Paul Mulshine, Star-Ledger

• When will the fish come back to be hooked? That was the question that faced Bob Stewart last weekend as he looked down the length of the boardwalk in Seaside Heights the other day. On a typical Palm Sunday there would be a huge parade as well as an Easter egg hunt. But for as far as the eye could see, there wasn’t a single human being.

Coronavirus clampdown: The virus casts a shroud over American civic life

Jeremy B. White, Politico

• States and cities across the country are cutting off access to open records and canceling in-person meetings, starving the public — not to mention lobbyists and other influence-brokers — of information as the coronavirus outbreak reaches into all corners of civic life.

‘We just don’t know’: Despite doubts, some NJ doctors are using malaria drug out of desperation

Abbott Koloff and Jean Rimbach, NorthJersey.com

• The debate over using a malaria drug for COVID-19 patients has become a political and cultural flashpoint, ramping up in volume over the weekend after President Donald Trump said he’d consider using it himself. The drug hydroxychloroquine has been portrayed as a miracle by some, while others have argued its potential overuse before scientific studies are completed could be dangerous for some patients and create shortages for those relying on it to treat other illnesses, like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Supermarket Shopping in NJ Was Bizarre Over Weekend (Opinion)

Dennis Malloy, NJ1015

• People are standing at least 6 feet part with empty carts. Major stores like Walmart, Target and Home Depot were taking similar measures, keeping shoppers out of the store to avoid overcrowding. I was planning a trip to my local supermarket later Sunday afternoon, but I got in the car and drove to my market to see if the chaos had hit there. Luckily, it’s a smaller, family-run store and there were only about a dozen customers and things were normal. About two-thirds of the patrons were wearing masks and a couple of the employees.

COVID-19 Starts to Take a Toll on New Jersey’s Disabled Residents

Lilo H. Stainton, NJ Spotlight

• As the death toll from COVID-19 climbs past 1,000 New Jersey residents, state officials said Monday that the fatalities have included a dozen severely disabled individuals who depended on the government for a place to live or help with daily tasks.

At Rowan, ‘Everything is on hold’

Tom Bergeron, roi-nj.com

• Before he became the president of Rowan University … before he became a transformational leader who has helped shape the economy of South Jersey … before he even entered academia, Ali Houshmand was an analyst, forecasting flights for United Airlines. The process, Houshmand said, always started the same way. “You always looked at the outliers and tried to remove them, because they disturb the data and disturb the conclusion,” he said. COVID-19, Houshmand said, is a massive outlier.

Put a plan in place for your pets, animal groups say

NJ Herald

• Eight New Jersey animal welfare organizations are urging the community to have a plan in place for their beloved companion animals in the wake of COVID- 19.

GALLERY: A closed Cumberland County amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Nicholas Huba, Press of Atlantic City

• Photos from around Cumberland County amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cape leaders’ hands tied when it comes to enforcing ‘stay away’ orders

Colt Shaw, Press of Atlantic City

• The idea of checking driver’s licenses at the bridge to keep out nonresidents was discussed March 18 by the four mayors of the Wildwoods. Pete Byron, the mayor of Wildwood, said they had no real intention of implementing the plan, but reporters and the public caught wind of the idea, and Gov. Phil Murphy stepped in.

Coronavirus, Trump and hydroxychloroquine combine to give Bernie Kerik new life | Kelly

Mike Kelly, NorthJersey.com

• It’s amazing what a little bit of presidential mercy can do. Just ask Bernie Kerik of Franklin Lakes, the former New York City police commissioner during the 9/11 attacks who served nearly four years in federal prison for tax fraud and was pardoned by President Donald Trump just two months ago.

Petition seeks to reopen state parks

Eric Obernauer, NJ Herald

• A backlash against Gov. Phil Murphy’s order Tuesday closing all state parks is brewing. In a Facebook post Tuesday night, Sussex County Freeholder Dawn Fantasia called on county residents and others to support a petition launched by Morris County Assemblyman Jay Webber, R-26th Dist., opposing the governor’s order.

N.J. to postpone June primary elections to July due to coronavirus outbreak

Brent Johnson and Jonathan D. Salant, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

• New Jersey will postpone its June 2 primary election — which includes closely watched races for president and Congress — to July 7 because of the coronavirus pandemic, three officials familiar with the action confirmed to NJ Advance Media.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill discusses husband testing positive for coronavirus, PPE and more

Briana Vannozzi, NJTV

• Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill is hosting her first telephone town hall for her 11th District constituents to answer questions and talk about programs that’ll help small businesses and unemployed workers.

Republicans want Murphy to change his mind, keep parks open during coronavirus

Rob Jennings, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

• Some prominent New Jersey Republicans are urging Gov. Phil Murphy to rescind his executive order closing state parks amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Union Ahead of the Pack in Census Responses

Kathy Cryan, TAPinto.net

• Every household across the nation should have received an invitation to take the census by now, and as of Monday, April 6, Union residents are well ahead of the county and state response rate.

Veteran train conductor of Raritan Valley line is first NJ Transit coronavirus death

Colleen Wilson, NorthJersey.com

• A train conductor who worked at NJ Transit for more than 20 years, most recently plying the rails on the Raritan Valley Line, is the first coronavirus-related loss for the agency.

Death in a pandemic brings frustration, helplessness, and awe for this Morris County family

Kevin Coughlin, Morristown Green

• Losing a loved one never is easy. But for the family of Mary McCool, who died Monday from complications of COVID-19 at the newly reopened Atlantic Rehabilitation Institute in Morristown, the last three weeks have been excruciating.

Crisis Brings Out the Best and Worst in People (Opinion)

Bill Spadea, NJ1015

• Crisis situations like this bring out the best and worst in people. We’re seeing the best among our first responders. We’re seeing the best among truckers, construction workers and parents who have had to assume the role of teacher through the past few weeks. We’re seeing the best in our transit workers who continue to operate our transportation system. We’re seeing the best among restaurants trying to stay afloat in uncertain and devastating economic circumstances. We’re seeing the best among teachers doing their part to adjust to distance learning and keep kids engaged.

Ventnor Board of School Estimate approves budget

Nanette LoBiondo Galloway, Down Beach

• The Board of School Estimate Monday, March 7 approved the 2020-2021 school district budget and vowed to petition state legislators to change the sending-receiving school district tuition funding formula. A total of 47 people attended the meeting which was presented on the Zoom teleconferencing platform.

Jack Ciattarelli: Murphy Punishing Those Who Are Compliant for Those Few Who Are Not

Shore News Network

• New Jersey has just been ordered by its Governor, Phil Murphy to stay in your house and your neighborhood. For many, that’s not an option, especially for those living in crowded urban areas and no backyards. Social distancing remains the number one method to flatten the coronavirus curve, but did Murphy go too far? Jack Ciattarelli thinks so. Ciatarrelli ran for governor against Murphy in 2017 during the Republican primary, but lost to Kim Guadagno. Now, he’s running again and he has some words of advice for Murphy.

Paterson seniors get care packages with masks, water, toilet paper rolls

Jayed Rahman, Paterson Times

• A surgical mask. A roll of paper towel. Napkins. A bottle of water. And two toilet paper rolls. All inside of a care package was distributed to 283 seniors on Tuesday morning. “Growing up in this community, and operating a long-time family-run business in the community, we know how critical it is to give back to our neighbors and customers during times of crisis,” said Aiman Muheisen of M. P. Plastics.

NJEDA rolls out application for $10M COVID-19 business relief grant (updated)

Daniel J. Munoz, njbiz.com

• The New Jersey Economic Development Authority rolled out the specifics for how businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic can apply for a $10 million state loan program, after a similarly-natured grant program was depleted just an hour after applications opened on April 3. A copy of the application for the Small Business Emergency Assistance Loan program was posted on the EDA’s website on Monday evening. Companies can apply starting 9 a.m. on April 13.

Scam GoFundMe pages being set up in name of Councilman Yun’s daughter, family says

John Heinis, Hudson County View

• Fraudulent GoFundMe pages are being set up in the name of late Jersey City Ward D Councilman Michael Yun’s daughter just one day after his passing, according to a message from his family and staff.

Police: Camden streets are safer, but nonviolent crime is up

Jim Walsh, Cherry Hill Courier-Post

• Shootings and homicides have fallen sharply here this year, but some nonviolent crimes have surged in the other direction, the Camden County Police Department has reported. A 78 percent drop in homicides helped produce a 6 percent decline for overall violent crime in the year’s first quarter, the police department said Tuesday.

Following complaints, prosecutor clears up problem about Lakewood buses

Ken Serrano, Asbury Park Press

• Since shortly after Gov. Phil Murphy shut down schools in New Jersey March 18, a controversy over whether Lakewood buses that were still on the road were transporting food or children has made the rounds on social media. The Ocean County Prosecutor Tuesday attempted to lay the matter to rest.