8 NEW COVID-19 POSITIVE CASES COMMUNITY-WIDE AND 1 IN LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY REPORTED ON MONDAY

ADDITIONAL 24 IN NJ TRAINING SCHOOL FOR BOYS 

PLEASE NOTE:Late last month Attorney General Grewal announced the testing of all New Jersey kids within Juvenile Justice facilities. Today’s results reflect 24 additional positive cases within the NJ Training School for Boys, for a total of 45 known, positive cases among the residents.

 **According to data from the Middlesex County Board of Health, 76% of deaths in Monroe Township are from private long-term care facilities.   

COVID-19 Cases received Monday, May 11:  New positive cases 33 

24 males age 15 – 19, Residents of the NJ Training School for Boys

 STATE AND NJDOH STATISTICS:  

• As of last night:4,328 residents hospitalized for COVID-19.The overall trendlines are showing progress, Governor Murphy says.
• 360 new hospitalizations yesterday and 164 patients were discharged from the hospital.
• 1,306 patients in either critical or intensive care, 982 ventilators currently in use.
• 75% of ICU patients are on ventilators.
• 518 LTC facilities with COVID-19 cases; 26,476 COVID-19 cases in these facilities.
• The number of positive cases and deaths connected to our long-term care facilities continues to grow, but that rate has slowed
• Commissioner Persichilli is signing an Executive Directive requiring all long-term care facilities in the state to implement testing of staff and residents for COVID-19 by May 26. 
• Governor Murphy says while the progress is undeniable, "no state is currently as impacted as ours." He stressed New Jersey currently leads the nation in the number of new cases, patients in hospitals and new deaths.

MESSAGE FROM GOVERNOR MURPHY RE:  TESTING & CONTACT TRACING:  “Until there’s a proven vaccine, our best chance at catching and containing COVID-19 is through testing and contact tracing.  I’m proud to announce that we are directing $6 million in federal funding to Rutgers University to boost their testing production capabilities from 10,000 tests per day to 50,000 within the next six-to-eight weeks.  As we get testing supplies, we will deploy them to areas based on need and where potential hotspots may be emerging to ensure we hold off a second wave.  We’re now well on our way to our next goal of being able to provide at least 20,000 tests a day by the end of the month.  

We’re going to have to use contact tracing unlike it’s ever been deployed before.  We’re going to need to build our Community Contact Tracing Corps – an entire community of contact tracers to help those already on the ground.  Contact tracing has remained largely a local or regional effort. We must now centralize these efforts.  

I will execute an executive order to ensure that local health departments, and state health officials, are all using and working off of the same information platform.  We'll build a strong corps of community contact tracers.  We currently have 800-900 tracers statewide. We'll need at least 1,000.  We’re partnering with our state’s colleges & universities to employ their public health, social work and related students as our front-line workers.”  

BECOME A CONTRACT TRACER:  The New Jersey Department of Health will soon sign a memorandum of understanding with Rutgers School of Public Health to stand up the first group of our new contact-tracing workforce.  We know we’ll need to further grow the ranks of contact tracers and create jobs for New Jerseyans.  Click here to register.

CVS TO OFFER CORONAVIRUS SWAB TESTS AT 50 N.J. STORES, MURPHY SAYS:  CVS Pharmacy will offer coronavirus testing at dozens of its New Jersey stores by the end of May, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday. The by early Tuesday afternoon had not announced the locations of the stores where testing will be available. Read full NJ.com article here. 

PARK EQUIPMENT, ALL FIELDS AND HOCKEY RINK REMAIN CLOSED:  Spring is officially here, and the parks are open again for passive recreation.  However, we must remind all our residents that playground equipment, all sports fields and the outdoor hockey rink remain CLOSED to the public. We must keep these facilities shuttered to reduce the possibility of community spread within the township. This means no organized training or practices, no playgroups, and no hockey games. The police department will be responding to complaints at these locations and you will be asked to leave. 

LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT DURING COVID-19?  The State of New Jersey has developed a centralized resource to match talent with opportunities in industries on the front lines of serving New Jerseyans during the outbreak.  Did you lose your job or have your hours reduced as a result of COVID-19? Businesses across New Jersey need thousands of workers for immediate hire. Learn more about who is hiring in your community here.  The State has also created a special intake tool for employers seeking to have openings posted on the portal. Employers can access the intake tool here.