May 15th is Too Soon to Reopen NJ Schools! – Patch.com

On the same day that over a dozen bodies were pulled from an Assisted Living center in Andover NJ, a date was put forward by a group of Northeastern states’ governors, led by NYS Governor Cuomo, announcing May 15th as a potential date for the “reopening” of these states.

It is foolhardy to even suggest a date for reopening until the actual impact of the deadly virus has been determined and steps taken to ensure that it is controlled and won’t peak again.

The Assisted Living Center in Andover isn’t the only place being investigated for failure to respond adequately to the crisis. Twenty four residents of the Veterans’ Home in Paramus have died from COVID-19. People are protesting at nursing homes throughout the state, including one in Elizabeth.

At the same time, the state of New Jersey continues to ignore the pleas of its residents to free all immigrants from ICE detention centers in Hudson, Bergen and Essex County (#FreeThemAll4PublicHealth) and incarcerated men and women from prison throughout the state while COVID-19 rips through these populations. It has been reported that New Jersey has the highest number of ICE detainees testing positive for COVID-19. Clearly, these facilities have been ineffective in mitigating the rampant spread to prisoners and detainees.

Under these circumstances, and the many still to be discovered, how can any responsible leader suggest that it is now acceptable to ease up on the restrictions, send children back to school and thus grease the way to restarting the economy? Governor Murphy stated that if students were sent back to school on May 15th, they would likely have to wear face coverings and practice social distancing. Then why send them back at all? What is the Governor waiting for? He can announce tomorrow that schools will remain closed for the remainder of this school year.

New Jersey still has a lot of work to do to implement the suggested steps of the World Health Organization, including widespread testing, not just those with symptoms or those with access to a computer or to a personal physician. In fact, an article in the April 19th edition of NJ Advance Media states “State officials still have no firm grasp on the number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey, largely because of ongoing troubles surrounding testing for the coronavirus.” We can’t know if we’re truly flattening the curve when we don’t know how many cases there are already.

Yes, we must address the state and country’s economic problems but not by waving our hands and hoping that COVID-19 will magically disappear. We can’t take those risks with people’s lives.

We hereby demand that Governor Murphy end his participation in this artificially and irresponsibly arrived upon date. We call upon him to unequivocally dissent from the announced “plan” and make clear that NJ is in no position to move forward and reopen – with 3,840 dead and approximately 300 still dying every day. While the most recent report indicated a drop in new cases and deaths, the numbers are still high and may be even higher (we just don’t have a solid baseline) and may also vary from county to county. For example, Atlantic County’s figures are doubling every nine days. This is not the time to take unnecessary risks. This plan is just two weeks after Trump’s May 1 date. While some may perceive it as a “compromise,” the compromise is with public health, sacrificing us all to the interests of large corporations who care about nothing except their bottom line.

We invite all civic, community, political organizations and labor unions, including the NJEA, to join us in this call for the Governor to abandon the May 15th date because of the impact of such a dangerous decision on students and teachers. We need to focus more on getting a real plan in place to SAVE THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF LIVES and abandon any attempt to set a date until that plan and the effectiveness of its implementation is assured.

#WeWillDecide NJ will certainly hold Governor Murphy responsible for any casualties that result from reopening the state “too soon.”

Grace Agnew, Middlesex County
Monica Alguilar Calderon, Essex County
Diane Beeny, Union County
Lily Benavides, Morris County
Fred Blumberg, Ocean County
Denise Cole, Essex County
Evelyn Delgado, Middlesex County
Marguerite Dentino, Monmouth County
Elizabeth Faraone, Union County
Cynthia Flood, Essex County
Mary Gallagher, Essex County
Carol Gay, Ocean County
Susan Gordon, Somerset County
Stacy Gregg, Morris County
Madelyn Hoffman, Morris County, mrhlepaix@gmail.com
John Leschak, Middlesex County
Natalia Meneses, Bergen County
Mary Margaret Mumich, Hunterdon County
Zenobia Pintora, Hudson County
Linda Powell, Somerset County
Avram Rips, Essex County
Ada Roca, Burlington County
Charlie Stella, Middlesex County
David Hanson Schraeger, Mercer County
Matthew James Skolar, Hudson County
Lynn Stockamer, Essex County
Heather Warburton, Atlantic County
Bob Witanek, Somerset County 908-881-5275
Leonard Zorfass, Middlesex County