Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 4/21/2020 – InsiderNJ

The statewide COVID-19 count climbed to 88,306 cases and 4,377 fatalities on Monday, an increase of 3,528 cases and 177 deaths since Sunday. Governor Murphy and state officials held their daily COVID-19 briefing. Murphy said that the ‘numbers are definitive’ despite a lack of a federal plan for tests and PPE inhibiting testing measures and insisted the state has achieved relative stability, though acknowledged the anticipation of spike when the state reopens. ‘The spread of COVID-19 is slowing’, he said, cautioning against ‘claiming victory’ but noting ‘we are making progress’. He pushed back against calls for immediate re-opening, saying ‘we will align ourselves with our region’ and saying ‘personal health creates economic health’. He said ‘I will not apologize‘ for the measures he’s taken, insisting that they won’t last forever.

The Governor announced a partnership with United and Delta Airlines to provide free round-trip fares for health workers coming to New Jersey to assist in the state’s efforts to combat COVID-19.

The NJDOH released a list of long-term care facilities with COVID-19 outbreaks.

Senator Menendez and Louisiana Senator Cassidy unveiled a $500B proposal to benefit counties and local governments to aid in recovery efforts stemming from COVID-19.

AG Grewal announced a series of virtual town halls to maintain community engagement with law enforcement during the COVID-19 crisis.

AG Grewal and State Police Colonel Callahan released the daily update of executive order violations and enforcement actions on Monday.

Atlantic County is assessing the county’s economic recovery needs and is planning towards a transition to a ‘post-pandemic new normal’.

Bergen County surpassed 13,000 COVID-19 cases total as of Monday.

Burlington County reported 110 new COVID-19 cases on Monday.

Camden County reported 75 new COVID-19 cases and 5 fatalities on Monday.

Cumberland County reported a total of 344 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

Essex County reported a total of 10,713 COVID-19 cases as of Monday; Newark has surpassed 4,000 cases.

Gloucester County reported 29 new COVID-19 cases on Monday.

Hunterdon County reported a total of 423 COVID-19 cases as of Sunday. The Hunterdon-Somerset joint testing site added new dates for appointments.

Mercer County reports 2,500 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

Middlesex County released a town breakdown of COVID cases on Monday.

Monmouth County reported a total of 4,783 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

Morris County surpassed 4,000 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

Ocean County reported a total of 4,822 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

Passaic County reports 8,695 COVID-19 cases total as of Monday; Paterson surpassed 3,000 cases.

Salem County reported a total of 123 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

Somerset County reported a total of 2,212 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

Sussex County reported a total of 688 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

Warren County surpassed 600 COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

The Problem Solvers Caucus, co-chaired by Rep. Gottheimer, released a ‘recovery and reopening checklist’.

Rep. Pascrell led 175 House colleagues in calling for more federal aid to state and local governments.

Stockton University released its 2020 South Jersey Economic Review.

A Middlesex County sheriff’s sergeant is alleging internal cover-ups in a whistleblower lawsuit, according to MyCentralJersey.

ICYMI: Murphy notes state layoffs at stake, strongly pushed back against Curcio comments, in rare moment of deviation from gentility; acknowledging growing pushback, Murphy says ‘go ahead, it’s on me‘; Guvs announce appointees to multi-state council; schools closed until May 15th, Murphy says Andover problems ‘beyond the pale; suspension of rent increases at NJMFHA buildings; UE surpassed 718k; House Dems conference call; Gloucester will open 3rd test site; Sussex ‘extremely concerned‘ about Andover subacute; Murphy says ‘all of us are anxious to break free‘, offers grim assessment of a post-pandemic state; Murphy on constitutional authority

With budget cuts looming, furloughed public workers may get federal help in NJ plan

Terrence T. McDonald, NorthJersey.com

• Public workers in New Jersey who have their hours reduced for three months would get a federally funded pay increase under a bipartisan plan backed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a plan his office says could save state, county and local governments more than $750 million.

N.J. releases statewide list of coronavirus cases, deaths in nursing homes

Ted Sherman, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

• The state of New Jersey — after weeks of refusing to release a list of nursing homes where the patients have died or tested positive for the coronavirus — finally released an accounting of facilities where COVID-19 has taken a toll among the elderly.

Why didn’t Paterson set up a coronavirus testing site for residents?

Jayed Rahman, Paterson Times

• New Jersey’s third most populous city, among the most densely populated in the United States, did not set up a coronavirus testing site for residents as confirmed cases surged from hundreds to thousands. Mayor Andre Sayegh initially pushed to get a testing site up and running at the Board of Health, but later backed off.

NJ Tulip Farms During COVID 19: OK to Buy From Not to Drive Through

Erin Vogt, NJ1015

• Holland Ridge Farms is a family-owned flower farm in the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold, Monmouth County. Dalton Farms is a family-owned and run farm in Swedesboro, Gloucester County. Both locations host flower festivals twice a year — tulips in the spring and sunflowers in the fall. This year, the coronavirus pandemic derailed the spring tradition, but Dalton was able to run a drive-thru attraction for nearly three weeks before being told by the state to shut down on Sunday.

Downbeach residents asked to conserve water after sewer leak discharges sewage into bay

Nanette LoBiondo Galloway, Down Beach

• Residents and businesses in Downbeach area are being asked to conserve water to minimize flow of water through a broken force main discharging into the bay near Bader Field.

U.S. Senate Candidate Mehta, GOP Leadership Still Silent on Staffer’s “N-word” Video

Shore News Network

• One week ago, we reached out to U.S. Senate candidate Rikin Mehta and asked him about a video published by his senior campaign staffer, which he and a few college buddies were throwing around the N-word. That video went viral and Mehta staffer Brandon Kubinak was later expelled from Monmouth University. The video went viral…around the world viral. When Kubinak made Buzzfeed, it was all over. Since our original story, we reached out to NJ GOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt and Monmouth County GOP Chairman Shaun Golden for comment. Both ignored our request for comment.

Life after the COVID-19 crisis

David Cruz, NJTV

• If anything, the coronavirus pandemic has showed us that it’s a very small world. The crisis in Wuhan quickly became the crisis in Jersey. We are, indeed, all connected, and globalization has a lot to do with that. Are we going to be as open to a world economy as we used to be?

NJ businesses got more than $9.5B in PPP money

Gabrielle Saulsbery, njbiz.com

• New Jersey small businesses nabbed 33,519 of the 1.6 million loans nationwide through the Paycheck Protection Program created by the federal COVID-19 stimulus relief bill. Of the $342.3 billion net in loans approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration, $9.5 billion was approved for New Jersey businesses, barely cracking the top 10 for states that received the most relief.

NJ Gov. Phil Murphy should close schools for 2019-2020 year

LA Parker, The Trentonian

• Gov. Phil Murphy should close schools and put an end to this mental anguish and mind games. Instead, Murphy, who closed schools in March because of the COVID-19 outbreak, says let’s see where we stand on May 15. Mind you, that’s a Friday which means that school officials in more that 600 districts might need several days to prep for the return of students, including securing masks and other safety items like sanitizer and gloves.

Husband of Congressional candidate Harrison hospitalized with COVID-19

Michelle Brunetti Post, Press of Atlantic City

• Brigid Harrison, a leading Democratic candidate in the 2nd Congressional District primary race, announced Sunday her husband, Paul Meilak, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is hospitalized in New York City.

Is there a coronavirus threat in your nursing home? We want to hear from you

Shannon Mullen, Asbury Park Press

• The coronavirus pandemic poses a serious threat to nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties. The sick and elderly in these centers are at heightened risk, and must cope with the added strain of being separated from loved ones because of social distancing measures. In addition, the health care workers they depend on must worry daily about their own safety.

Fake news, real threats: Are coronavirus hoaxes a trial run for 2020 campaign? | Stile

Charles Stile, NorthJersey.com

• Gov. Phil Murphy was deep into his daily recitation of the grim facts of the COVID-19 catastrophe when a fake Homeland Security bulletin flashed across his smartphone. An alarmed friend had sent it to him. But Murphy quickly concluded that it probably was written by an enemy of the United States.

Facebook shuts down pages promoting anti-shutdown rallies in New Jersey, but not Pennsylvania

Rob Tornoe, Philadelphia Inquirer

• Facebook has removed events promoting anti-shutdown rallies in New Jersey, California, and Nebraska following complaints they violate lockdown rules put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19. But the social media site did not take down events promoting a protest in Harrisburg that took place Monday afternoon.

Trump revs up for a state-by-state fight over coronavirus shutdowns

Nancy Cook, Politico

• President Donald Trump is preparing for a long battle with America’s governors to save himself from the political fallout from coronavirus.Over the next two weeks, at the urging of the Trump administration, the map of the U.S. will start to resemble a patchwork quilt, with some states open for business while others remain locked down because of the spread of the virus.

Deaths and Infections for Residents, Staff Continue to Rise at Two Veterans’ Homes

Jon Hurdle, NJ Spotlight

• Two of New Jersey’s three veterans’ homes are seeing an increasing number of infections and deaths from the coronavirus as COVID-19 spreads through an especially vulnerable population despite the efforts of health care workers to quarantine affected residents.

Exclusive: Rep. Tom Malinowski Disappointed by the Failure of the CARES Act to Help Small Businesses

John Mooney, TAPinto.net

• The CARES Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Trump on March 27, created the $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) designed to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their operations running. Less than two weeks later, the funding pool was depleted.

Your taxes could go up if NJ goes through with borrowing $9 billion to cover budget holes

Ashley Balcerzak, NorthJersey.com

• Sales and property taxes could go up if New Jersey follows through on a plan to borrow up to $9 billion from the U.S. Federal Reserve to patch the holes in revenue ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Phil Murphy first discussed the possibility last week but it is unclear if legislative leaders will sign off on the proposal.

Navy vet finds remains of 1700s shipwreck in Bordentown

Gianluca D’Elia, Burlington County Times

• Traces of the Bordentown shipwreck hadn’t been recorded since the 1980s. A Navy veteran and anthropology student was the first to revisit the wreck with modern technology.

Veteran and longtime NJ State Police forensic scientist dies of coronavirus

Kaitlyn Kanzler, NorthJersey.com

• A former, longtime New Jersey State Police forensic scientist and veteran Herbert Heaney died from coronavirus complications Monday. During his daily press conference on Saturday, Gov. Phil Murphy said Heaney, 77, was among the population who suffer from two chronic conditions, which make them “a direct target” to the coronavirus.

The List: The 10 Most Common Causes of Death in New Jersey

Planet Princeton/NJ Spotlight

• Having claimed more than 4,200 lives in New Jersey in less than six weeks, COVID-19 is bound to be one of the largest causes of death in the state this year.

The Streaks have spoken: Warren Hills demands logo recognition

Kyle Craig, For lehighvalleylive.com

• Few posts that the sports department has produced have stirred up the sort of controversy that our high school logo rankings generated. While readers took issue with our (near-flawless) ratings, they also had the ability to voice their own choice in a poll.

Jersey City COVID-19 relief programs ‘won’t discriminate based on immigration status’

John Heinis, Hudson County View

• Jersey City COVID-19 relief programs “won’t discriminate based on immigration status,” nor will they require background checks, according to Mayor Steven Fulop.

Have NJ Democrats forgotten the BP Oil Spill?

More Monmouth Musings

• April 20, 2020 marks the 10 year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. The explosion killed 11 and the environmental impact extended beyond 57,000 square miles. The human, environmental and economic suffering in the Gulf Coast States continues to this day. New Jersey Democrats seem to have forgotten.

Rutgers doctors, University Hospital say use of COVID-19 survivors’ plasma presents ‘real hope for saving lives’

Tom Bergeron, roi-nj.com

• Rutgers University physicians and University Hospital are making an appeal for blood donations from those who have survived COVID-19, saying their blood plasma contains antibodies that may help critically ill patients fight, and perhaps conquer, the virus. The physicians, who received FDA approval Friday to use blood plasma from patients who recovered from COVID-19 to treat new patients, have thus far treated 17 patients with convalescent plasma. FDA approval is pending for the use of this treatment for additional patients.

Coronavirus pandemic a test of our personal (and national) character | Deak

Mike Deak, Bridgewater Courier News

• My dad was 17 months old when the 1918 flu epidemic ravaged Central Jersey. He survived to live another 84 years. Quite a feat, considering the life expectancy for American males born in 1917 was only about 50.

Coronavirus NJ: Funerals with no visitation, few mourners and ‘impersonal’ services

Joe Strupp, Asbury Park Press

• When Joyce Lynch died on April 8 of what her family suspects was coronavirus, her children had not seen her for nearly a month. A resident of the Genesis Southern Ocean Center nursing home in the Manahawkin section of Stafford, the 84-year-old Lynch was unable to have visitors since mid-March due to the policy adopted in the wake of the virus outbreak.