N.J. Expands Testing to Some Asymptomatic Residents
N.J. Expands Testing to Some Residents Who Are Asymptomatic
(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey will begin testing some residents not showing Covid-19 symptoms as the state seeks to broaden monitoring for the virus, Governor Phil Murphy said Friday.
Health-care workers will still get priority, but including asymptomatic residents is part of “a step forward” as New Jersey looks to begin reopening its economy, Murphy said at a news briefing.
Beaches stand a “good chance” of reopening by the Memorial Day holiday weekend, but with crowd limits, he said in an earlier “Good Day New York” interview on Fox 5 television.
The Jersey Shore is a “huge deal in our economy,” Murphy said. Tourism, heavily dependent on oceanside visitors, generates more than $5 billion in state and local taxes annually. Much of that comes from rentals, dining and entertainment, and the state has no clear picture on when those services will resume.
In his news briefing, Murphy described efforts to roll back some of the public-health actions taken in the face of the pandemic. While Atlantic City and Edison pop-up field hospitals continue to operate, authorities will close the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, where the Federal Emergency Management Agency had set up 250 beds. Murphy said it had treated 268 patients, and its equipment will go into storage “for rapid deployment elsewhere as needed.”
“This is in no way a sign” that residents should relax social distancing, Murphy said of the Meadowlands site closing. Over 24 hours, he said, 464 hospital patients were discharged while 334 were admitted. In all, 4,605 people were hospitalized with coronavirus.
“There are still families and communities that are coping with the absolute worst news,” he said of 151 deaths recorded over 24 hours. Among them was a 4-year-old -- New Jersey’s first fatality under 18 -- who had had a health condition.
Testing of asymptomatic people will start at drive-up locations in Paramus and Holmdel on May 19. They will be open to first responders and health-care professionals, those with exposure to Covid-19, and workers in congregate residential settings, he said. The governor has said that New Jersey must double testing before it can start reopening.
“This is a chance for us to dip our toe in the water,” Murphy said.
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