Stina 10 Thank you ladies into my left and on the guy who needs no introduction the superintendent of State Police Colonel Pat Callahan Let's get right to the numbers as we have been doing we're reporting today 3250 new positive test results which brings the cumulative total of New Jerseyans who have now tested positive to 78,467 again 3250 new cases which brings the total of 78,467 according to our online dashboard And Judy will correct me if I get this wrong accessible through covert 19 dot NJ dot gov As of 10 PM last evening 8000 and 11 residents were reported hospitalized of whom 1961 were listed in critical or intensive care In 1594 ventilators were in use 90 patients or at one of our field medical stations And for the 24 hour period ending at 10 PM last evening 787 residents were discharged from our hospitals and that's good news This is not good news with the heaviest of hearts We also report the loss of another 323 blessed New Jerseyans brothers and sisters do to covet 19 related complications Our statewide total of fatalities now sits at 3840 This is now more than five times the number of New Jerseyans we lost on 9 11 And we continue to mourn and keep the souls we lost on 9 11 in our hearts and prayers and thoughts And we now have 3840 more lost souls with room to do the same We mourn with each family who has been directly impacted in the worst way by this pandemic We are incredibly grateful to those who allow us to remember their loved ones here on this platform Telling these stories is never easy but I do hope that by sharing them inputting human faces to the numbers we can all gain a little extra perspective on why we have been so aggressive in our actions Toe halt the spread of covert 19 Here are a few more lives for us to reflect upon Alicia Psych er kuna She went by Alice by the name look at that She came to this country in 1981 from Poland without knowing one word of English Her story is the American story It is the New Jersey story She got her first job on the night shift at a Dunkin Donuts and Kearney while her first husband looked after their three Children including a son with special needs Eventually she was hired as a bank teller the only one able to help the Polish speaking customers and soon became an advocate and resource for the Polish community Across Wallington Passaic and Garfield she rose up the ladder to become a bank manager and after becoming suddenly widowed at the age of 42 she went back to school and became a certified tax collector and worked for the borough of Wallington for 10 years and then his tax collector chief financial officer and school treasurer in Bergenfield Alice suffered a stroke in 2011 and fought her way back to keep working but her light was forever dimmed by Covert 19 On Monday she leaves her husband Marion her three Children and three grandchildren and 1/4 on the way More on that in a moment and she has passed along her belief in public service as two of her Children currently work as a public school speech therapist and an assistant prosecutor respectively I spoke with her daughter Maggie Uh we reminisced about her mom Maggie is the one who's pregnant She's got a son due on August 15th which I reminded her as a Catholic is a holy day of obligation I think that would be only appropriate And just God bless you Alice You will be missed by your family for sure and buy the rest of us in New Jersey Robert Weber There he is Blessed was a 15 year veteran firefighter with the Port Mama Fire Company in my hometown of Middleton in Monmouth County He did more than just fight fires though and also served as a member of both the Middletown first aid and rescue squad in the Middle Town Fire Departments air unit It probably wasn't a surprise that he chose this line of work as Rob's family has re told their memories of him as a child chasing after fire trucks Not everyone gets to live their dream but Rob obviously did hiss to honor him and the only way they could at this time Local responders organized a motor procession last night that headed out from the Port Monmouth Fire Department to his wife Danielle with whom I spoke this morning And needless to say she is incredibly brokenhearted and the entire Weber family and the Middletown firefighting family in the broader Middletown family of which I am a member I think Robert for his service to his community his soul and memories are in our thoughts and prayers We will not forget him And here is Quentin Wiest Lower right When this photo was taken last Father's Day Quinton was only 106 years old Would Cove in 19 took him Earlier this week he had reached 107 He was born on October 29th 1912 only a couple of months before my dad was born And yes he survived the flu pandemic of 1918 He ordered degree in engineering from the George Washington University in Washington D C And embarked on a career that would see him rise to the ranks of the telecommunications industry with Western Electric Company the manufacturing side of the former Bell telephone system Along the way he married his wife of 56 years Myrtle with whom he is now reunited They lived all over the country but settled in Ridgewood in 1975 and he called New Jersey home for the rest of his life He was among other things an expert bridge player even garnering a mention in The New York Times He was an avid bowler and play golf right up until age 100 I suspect he would not have been happy with the fact that we have our golf courses shut it Had he been still playing He volunteered for the Red Cross and in a local nursing home He is survived by his and Myrtle's three Children daughters Myrtle and CASS over of Pompton Lakes Paula Key Paul Part B Pollock A Wiest of Manhattan And son Quentin Wiest of Ridgewood I spoke with Quentin earlier today Uh and uh talked about his dad pretty extraordinary at all levels His dad also leaves five grandchildren and two great grandchildren with another one with another on the way Who is undoubtedly gonna learn some great stories Young Quentin That's him in this photo with his own son Quintin and his sons Theodore So four generations of wastes in that photo young Quentin with whom I spoke shared this summation and I quote him when it came to life he left nothing on the table A remarkable life in a remarkable man Amen Just coming in here I learned that uh I read that my friend Benji Wimberly assemblyman from Patterson's cousin past and I put two and two together realized it was Councilwoman Ruby Cotton's husband Ed who also passed Uh and so I wanna I spoke to Ruby on the phone just before coming over here I want to also give her and her late husband Ed uh a uh shout out from us to say that they his memory and she and Benjy and the whole family are in our prayers and will remain so every life remorse on was of a remarkable person We've been ableto only bring a few of their stories forward But each one leaves a legacy worth celebrating and protecting and protecting them We will by continuing tow wage our war against this dizzy that disease that took these tremendous people from us And in that we must all come together stay together and keep working together Every day I share this map mon Let's get it up there Uh which shows how far we've come and slowing the spread of covert 19 again The lighter the color of this map the better That means it's taking longer for the virus to spread The darker it is the worse it is Just a few weeks back the number of cases in each county were doubling within only a couple of short days and it was deep red and dark orange But because we and I mean we all of us have been aggressive in our social distancing in making the tough decisions we've had to make cancel public gatherings close non essential businesses close our schools and requires toe all wear face coverings And again we all do that We only take them off when we're speaking with you Among all the other steps we've taken those rates of increase have dropped dramatically This is what we've been working toward and what we must keep doing I know it's hard I know it's not fun I know it's going to be for a few more weeks at least If you want to be mad at me or find someone to blame go ahead It's on me But my number one goal my entire focus is on defeating this virus and getting our state back toe where we can responsibly reopen it I gave an interview being the night in A very dear friend of mine reached out and he said You know you're missing something here You talk about you close the state and I quote my friend He said Covert 19 Close the state You just organized it He's a restaurant tour And he said Ask any restaurant tour how business was for the two weeks before before we officially closed Ask a theater owner how sales were New York City restaurants that was announced before New York City closed down that restaurants couldn't go over 50% capacity Ah and and he said that Ah there were literally zero people coming to those restaurants And the restaurant tourist laughed at this edict because they couldn't even get to 20% because people were scared literally to death And so this is I'm quoting my friend Zero people would come to the restaurant tomorrow if you allow them to go out Uh and his point is a very good point We need to have confidence that we've broken the back of this virus that we have health care infrastructure in place As we begin to open our state backup That will give people the confidence to say You know what It's okay to get back in It's okay to go out again It's okay toe Do the things that are being allowed Um And again we will not back off of breaking the back of this virus And again that's the order of events here Break the back of the virus Have a fuller this close to full health care recovery is possible And only on the back of that can we have the economic recovery that we also desperately want including yours Truly I take solace and guidance in the words of one of my heroes Vice President and Senator Hubert Humphrey and I quote him The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life The Children those who are in the twilight of life the elderly and those who are in the shadows of life The sick the needy in the handicapped Those are words to guide us Indeed I want to give my dear friend loose the Lotto a Shut out He and I are co chairs of the Hubert Humphrey Fan Club in New Jersey I think this is a moral test for us all The last thing we could do is relax and get complacent If we do then that map before us will get bright red once again And if that happens our health care system no matter how great a job Judy and Christine and their team do their system will be swamped and countless people will die It's really a simple as that we pound that infection curve down We pound down the number of hospitalizations we pound down the number of folks who require intensive care and thank God please God We pound down the amount of fatalities switching gears before we turn things over to Judy We'd a good video conference with the president and vice president in their teams yesterday talking about how they're seeing the reopening of the American economy and there's an enormous amount of responsibility given to governors and latitude Given the governor's we're still sort of parsing through the recommendations and steps that they have put forward I spoke privately with the president after that video call In fact it was a president And it turns out the vice president Secretary Mnuchin were also uh joined us Um and again we will continue with the order of events that we have laid out uh and continue to take advice in the best guidance we can from best practices around the country and around the world Today I am proud to announce that the Attorney General's Office through the Division of Consumer Affairs will begin issuing temporary emergency licenses toe foreign licensed physicians and doing this New Jersey is the first state to begin fully tapping the tremendous wealth of an international knowledge and experience to help us on our road front lines It is entirely fitting that where the first date to do this this is a state where the immigrant experience is writ large in our collective history This is a state where people from all over the world have come to build a new life and to live the American dream Look at Alice's story If you need any examples these air tremendous and often unheralded members of our unique divers and strong New Jersey family This family is now coming together as it has in few times before in our common history and every member of our New Jersey family as a role to play Even as we begin issuing these licenses we continue to look for experience Volunteers toe work alongside our current health care teams in Fighting Cove in 19 in particular and Judy will correct me if I get this wrong We have a need for anyone with qualifications is a respiratory therapist and for physicians nurses and emergency medical technicians If you have prior experience in any of these fields please go to Kobe 19 dot NJ dot gov slash volunteer to sign up and our team will work to match you with a location in need that could use you already More than 22,000 of you have raised your hands and many have already been sent out to help But this army can always use more reinforcements and today we launched a new page for all of you who are not medical professionals but wish to volunteer your time and efforts in other ways simply go to Kobe 19 dot NJ dot gov slash help and click on Volunteer in your community are most immediate needs air for people who helped deliver meals to elderly or otherwise vulnerable rest residents into assist does at our food pantries I think The Governor's Office of Volunteerism within the Department of State the New Jersey Voluntary Organizations Active and Disaster and the Office of Emergency Management under Path Supervision for their partnership In identifying these opportunities untested across the state there are now 77 0 sites at which you can receive a cove in 19 test If you're exhibiting symptoms of respiratory illnesses two dozen of them are publicly accessible and you could find a complete list at Cove in 19 Done NJ dot gov slash testing But there are many more privately run sites that your primary care practitioner can direct you to if you need to be tested And on this we continue to pursue every possible avenue for expanding our testing capabilities Getting this in place is a key component for our future Decision making is once we get through this emergency our charge will be to aggressively attack any future cases to prevent another outbreak I want to also acknowledge the director the Department of Homeland Security and prepared this Jared Maples is with us a deputy counsel caramel guard Thanks for being with us guys Before I hand things over to Judy I want to highlight as we have been doing over the past couple of weeks the tremendous work that ordinary New Jerseyans have undertaken to help get us through these extraordinary times You've shared many of these stories online by using that hashtag hashtag NJ thanks you And each one has been a little bright spot during our days Please keep sharing your stories Keep forwarding him First I want to give a shout out to the Montclair Drifters and with a special credit to my partner in government the extraordinary Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver for sending us this story The Montclair Drifters first formed in 1964 and for 56 years this group of dynamic and service driven African American women has dedicated itself to bettering their community This week they got together donate 40 hot meals to the frontline medical team at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair You could see some of the team members right there So a huge shot up to the Montclair drifters who continue to build upon their already tremendous 50 plus year history and legacy and then back down in my county Monmouth County There's Georgetown University freshman Liam Marshall There is Liam from Seeger He's obviously back home from the hilltop and wanted to help out In between his online classes He had the idea to begin an online campaign to support feed the front line which is providing meals to the health care workers at Mom with Counties area hospitals Liam used his social media presence toe Ask people to donate $15 in exchange for a yard sign to show that there's one of them right there to show support for every front line health care worker Working hard so far he said to produce you ready for this close to 800 signs Obviously this got bigger than just Liam so he listed his parents and his brother and a whole squad of friends to help him deliver signs to front lawns all over the mom the shore area By the way Liam is a business major Something tells me he has a tremendous future ahead of him to you Liam and your family I know you're watching I hope you never give up your spirit of giving back kudos to you And even though I didn't go to Georgetown I say Julia Saxon and I think this is a positive way in the guy the villain over grad to my left I think probably had mixed emotions about that chant that I think this is a positive way to end today to the millions of New Jerseyans who are with us in channeling our deep New Jersey values to defeat Cove in 19 Keep up the good work I know it has not been easy it has not been fun and it's not going to get any easier or any more fun But it is absolutely essential to our success We have come a long way already were flattening the curve There's no doubt about it but we cannot let up until we're written ourselves a written the curve rather down the other side We can do this After all we are New Jersey There's nothing else that needs to be said with that Please help me welcome the woman who needs no introduction The commissioner the Department of Health Judy Person killing Thank you Governor Good afternoon As you know we've seen ah extreme vulnerability of long term care facilities in New Jersey and nationally with the pandemic Coben 19 We continue to be vigilant and do everything in our power to assist these facilities from shipping personal protective equipment to connecting facilities with staffing support to replace the certified nursing assistants who are either ill or who have not reported to work There are 384 long term care facilities in the State Reporting Cove in 19 cases for a total of 9000 and 94 cases Tragically 1530 cove in 19 deaths have been reported in these facilities today I'm going to give you a breakdown by county and this will be added to the Department of Health dashboard later today In Atlantic County eight of their long term care facilities are reporting 53 Cove in 19 cases and six deaths In Bergen County 51 facilities are affected reporting 1831 cases and 352 deaths In Burlington County 15 facilities are affected Reporting 310 cases and 32 deaths In Camden County 14 facilities are affected reporting 281 cases and 48 deaths In Cape May County four facilities are affected Reporting 30 cases and two deaths in Cumberland County to facilities are reporting three cases and no deaths in Essex County 38 facilities Our reporting 969 cases and 204 deaths And Gloucester County seven facilities reporting 47 cases and eight deaths In Hudson County 12 facilities are reporting 361 cases and 57 deaths And Hunterdon County four facilities are reporting 100 and 43 cases and 20 deaths Mercer County 19 facilities reporting 344 cases and 38 deaths in Middlesex County 35 facilities reporting 832 cases and 162 deaths Mom with county 40 facilities reporting 782 cases and 100 and 14 deaths Morris County 32 facilities reporting 829 cases and 150 deaths Ocean County 32 facilities reporting 543 cases and 43 deaths Passaic County 18 facilities reporting 460 cases and 76 deaths Salem County to facilities 18 cases in one death Somerset County 24 facilities with 456 cases and 58 deaths Sussex County Five facilities reporting 161 cases in 45 deaths Union County 26 facilities reporting 472 cases and 91 deaths in Warren County reporting six facilities affected reporting Ah 169 cases and 23 deaths I have received calls and have talked with a number of elected officials of these counties and municipalities A CZ They're responding to the concerns of their constituents Federal surveyors are on site in Andover as reported yesterday along with our state surveyor and our state surveyors are making site visits today to several long term care facilities There will be working today and through the weekend visiting selected facilities based on the reporting of their statistics The New Jersey Veterans Home Senses today is 782 145 of our veterans have tested positive for covert 1932 are hospitalized They are reporting 57 deaths out of a staff of 1331 70 of their employees have tested positive Our state psych hospitals are reporting in additional death today for a total of seven deaths from their population of 1400 Currently ah 111 of our long term care facilities have reported that they are no longer admitting residents because they are unable to cohort and appropriately care for more individuals Has the governor shared Last evening our hospitals reported 8000 and 11 hospitalizations which includes patients with covert 19 and persons under investigation This is a 2% decrease from our daily growth rate of the past two days There are now 1961 individuals in critical care of which 1594 of those individuals are on ventilators That is 81% of our intensive care patients are on ventilators significantly down from a high of 97% within the past week Before I uh got in the car to come here I got a call from Kevin Slavin who you know is CEO of ST Josephs and also head of the board of the New Jersey Hospital Assoc Association And he shared with May that Peter Benko CEO of Scent or a Health in Colorado Peter Benko is a New Jersey fellow I worked with him when I was at ST Peter's in New Brunswick and Kevin hired him up at ST Joseph many years ago He is sending 25 nurses on United Sunday to New Jersey to work at ST Joseph's Saint Peter's and Trini Toss So a shout out to Peter Banko a New Jersey fella as the governor mentioned Our field medical stations have a current census of 90 The Secaucus site has 64 Edison has 26 Additionally 17 individuals are being served at the Marriott in Secaucus so all in 168 individuals have been served at thes sites and 79 have been successfully discharged home Today we're reporting 3250 new cases for a total of 78,467 and sadly 323 new cases new deaths have been reported to the department on as the governor shared That is a total of 3840 fatalities in our state our thoughts and prayers are with their families According to the data from this morning of the laboratory sending us covert 19 results Ah 143,450 tests have been performed 64,468 have returned positive for a positivity rate holding at about 44.9% Lastly I want to thank all of you who are staying home I know his time goes on gets tougher but the best way to protect yourselves and others or by staying home staying safe but staying connected Each one of us are making a difference in helping to spot stop the spread of this virus Thank you Judy Thank you for that I just wrote a note to myself to call Peter Benko Uh tell him uh how much we appreciate that a couple of things counties As we say every day the top six remain the counties with the most amount of cases and that really hasn't shifted in now weeks Bergen Essex Hudson Union Passaic and Middlesex Secondly on veterans Judy is it's still the case I don't have my veterans daily in front of me The uh fatalities Bless the God bless our veterans period And God bless those who have passed through to covert 19 is violent still uh zero Yes So these air all fatalities in either perimeter mental park settling um race and or co morbidity is Do you mind just quickly getting that Sure Um of the 2717 cases that we've investigated totally 50.3% or white 22.3% are black 16.6% Hispanic 5.4% Asian on Hispanic and 5.4% other Underlying conditions are holding aboutthe same 60.8% cardiovascular disease 39.1% diabetes mellitus 29.6% Other chronic diseases 20.5% chronic lung disease that's like asthma emphysema COPD 15.8% chronic renal disease 15% Nora logic disability 13.3% other and 11% cancer Thank you And as we've said before Ah a couple things One We've said this even yesterday the day before If you do if you add up all the co morbidity should get about 200% That's the reason is of course you've got folks with more than one condition Secondly the African American uh representation of the fatalities continues to concern As it looks again it's staying in and around 50% 50% above the representation of the African American community in the broader society in New Jersey Um thirdly this is something we haven't said in a few days The deaths this that the awful deaths that were reporting are probably folks Christina who were infected could be as long as several weeks ago At this point right Right Deaths are considered a lagging indicator Ah lot of times individuals become you know their onset of illnesses You know several days could be weeks before they actually potentially die And the positive test results We had a back and forth yesterday during the White House call and Judy I want to put words in your mouth You think the labs have partly caught up but these air probably still 5 to 7 days specimens taken about 5 to 7 days ago Is that fair to say so for everybody out there who's wondering So what's the time timing on this There's something again I'm gonna go out a little bit over my skis but we But I I do want to reiterate this There's nothing behind this other than the obvious point We had the opportunity when we announced the balance of the school year the extent to which this was going to continue to be remote learning And for how long Uh do we do this for a number of weeks versus the entirety of the balance of the school year We quite deliberately picked what is now four weeks from today That was with the input from Judy and Kristina and their teams Obviously the Commission of Education Dr Rep let Pat and his team and other experts looking at our best guess is to data and science And that was done deliberately So I want to not just say for the folks who are impacted by our decision on schools in particular with seniors out there in particular the seniors who play sports or of other activities the seniors who want to find some way to acknowledge and commemorate their graduation Um you know we know that you're probably the most impacted of the school communities including your folks and your families But we also did that deliberately because we hope to know a whole lot more as we now know versus four weeks ago Way hope to know a whole lot more as we round into May 15th And if we keep doing what we're doing that whole lot more we know has the potential to be meaningful E more positive So keep at it folks Please Please keep at it I know it's not fun I know people are stark crazy I don't blame you I get it But we are cracking the backs the back of a once a century killer here This is the fight of our lives and we are winning it But we have to stay at it We have to stay at it And if we do my gut tells me the news gets better Uh and it gets better over that four week period that we're talking about with that for any updates on compliance p p e Other infrastructure matters that it's got a note While I was making a note to thank Mr Benko I got a note from General Mills Horn saying he's looking forward to seeing the three of us next week in Atlantic City So with that pat over to you thank you Governor Compliance especially as it pertains to those large gatherings has been I would say phenomenal over the last few nights a few outliers which I'll go through briefly In Paterson a subject was cited for operating a car wash He was cited for Neo Violation Newark issued 90 EO violations and closed seven businesses in Morristown Three male subjects were charged for eel violation They were actually fighting During a small social gathering in South Brunswick a woman was cited for driving under the influence and as well as endangering the welfare of Children she had two small Children core and her Alka test revealed she was a 0.26 B A C and Elizabeth seven were sighted having been previously warned to disperse They were cited for eo violations in an upper township A subject was cited for driving under the influence with a 0.33 blood alcohol concentration with regard to P P E I just thought I'd note since this began a few weeks back that we have as a state ordered end or received over 53.3 million items as it pertains mostly about peopIe But that runs from vents hospital beds thermometers but mostly in the P p e world With regard to the two female supported sites the one in Bergen and PNC Once today ends they would have completed over 12,000 tests in Smart 20th so it hasn't even been up and running up a month just yet In over 12,000 tests of those two sites alone And lastly with regard to the National an ambulance contract that I speak of now and again they've just increased their hours to 24 7 In order to do that we're bringing an additional 75 personnel It was really only a six hour gap that they weren't operating but now they'll be able to operate 24 7 in those 100 additional ambulances 50 basic life support and 50 advanced life support are due to be in Jersey come Monday morning That's it Pat Thank you for that For everything Just before we go we'll start with Charlie here to my right But before we start um just to say on testing again to repeat I think we're number four in the country in terms of total tests with the 11th largest state population wise So at one level with punched above our weight But for a moment one we haven't had the materials the scale in testing that we would remotely need to do a universal regime And we're going to need something that looks a whole lot more like that before we can Responsibly and with confidence my friend The restaurant tour Forget about what I think or Judy or Pat thinks If you're thinking OK do I feel I'm ready to go out and have dinner or see a movie or go to a ball game or whatever it is you're gonna want And we we understand this We don't blame you You're gonna want to have confidence that we've got a health care infrastructure in place that is doing everything it can tow identify any re ignition of this virus and that it's an infrastructure that can deal aggressively and quickly with any potential re ignition And that's what we're going to need now There's a lot of promise with a lot of developments Judy you're Christina I have forgot more about this than I'll ever know The Rutgers saliva test is one example we've been using right the notion of being able to not just make it easier to submit your test with a lot less reliance on health care workers peopie et cetera But you get an answer back very quickly That's what we need We then need contact tracing probably a combination of humans and technology on We're in the stages of trying to figure out what that might look like And then once we contract down okay this person has tested positive and these are the people they were in touch with What's the what's the plan Then what's the quarantining What's the isolation plan And heavy had that completely vetted that will give you all and will give us the confidence that we need to begin turning that dimmer up on the light switch It's not gonna be a flip It's gonna be bringing it Think of that dimmer up on a light Uh And so just to say that on testing 12,000 and those two sites alone I'm not sure they're two sites in the country combined that have done 12,000 in the past couple of months I'll bet you there art but we're gonna need that nimble scaled quick turnaround testing reality on We're working hard on that As you can imagine that was a discussion explicitly with White House yesterday And I explained when it was my part of the program that was focused It was focused on getting federal money to help us which is an old theme that we've been hitting which we desperately need And secondly working with White House in the administration which we we are absolutely overwhelmingly interested in doing toe actually further that reality of a testing approached in our state that will allow us you and us the confidence we're gonna need to get Get that dimmer on the light switch back up again with that Charlie Afternoon Governor I've been asked to pass along that the mike I just want to make sure we've got me no required dental work by the mike Uh distance there today Thank you Thank you I've been asked to pass along a few questions from the Associated Press Uh for you Governor what is your reaction to the reopening booklet issued by the White House Is there anything in that you're pushing back on And if so why am How close is New Jersey to starting phase one And um uh you want me to let you answer those hokey pokey Okay well these are my questions Um uh wanted to ask for some clarification on your order Eo 1 22 about essential versus non essential construction I know In New Brunswick we've got uh some developers of private expensive housing that are moving forward using item to G as a loophole which says that any uh uh any construction involving a unit where there's a lease for somebody to occupy it can continue So they're saying even though it's a huge building and say we have a few leases so we want to keep going And the city has allowed that to go on one to ask for your clarification on whether that was your intent for those types of projects to be essential and and And how about the SRL pipeline Um that is uh been you know self described as a transmission redundancy project How how on earth can that be essential if it's redundant Um I also wanted to ask for your uh uh you know statement on the bilious Signed for giving civil and criminal immunity to certain health care professionals and facilities And you know what's your response to the people who voted against that Onda concerns that have been raised about that And what would you say to you know families who are concerned that there there you know loved ones may be victims of malpractice and and they would lose their their ability thio challenge that toe have legal recourse in civil and criminal court Okay let me um uh let me begin with the AP questions I thought it was a good discussion with White House We're still trying to go through the booklet I don't have it with me Judy and Pat were with me I thought it was a good discussion The most gratifying part of it is that they're basically saying the governors are the ones who determine a lot of us Uh and we agree with that on I don't say that is a hostile statement I just think it's a reality I've said this before I think there were three rings of responsibility here and you all should come in if you see it differently One is we have to do what's right for the nine million folks inside the Four Walls in New Jersey Number one job number one second ring out is to do that in a very tightly coordinated way with our neighbors We did that well as we were closing Let's do that as we are reopening including some of the health care infrastructure Potentially that I talked about Rich Besser is as good as it comes as it relates toe health care abilities Judy's known him a long time He's one of our representatives We couldn't have a better person alongside Jay Johnson is equally extraordinarily talented and then thirdly cooperation with White House So it's gotta work for us our neighbors and we There's nothing to replace the existential the reality of the federal government So I thought it was a decent discussion Um was there anything I'd be pushing back on the line I would push back on is if there was a requirement on timing Uh and there was not And that's a good thing because we're not ready again Don't confuse my extreme desire toe want open things up from my based on the data in the inputs that we have my assessment at the moment whether or not where Ready for that Um I think I've gotten into the other pieces of this Uh is this Mike who's asking our Yeah I mean I think I've gotten into it a minute ago We need break the back of the virus Have the health care infrastructure in particular in place testing contact tracing or the big pillars of that I think And then you could begin toe put your rules and not just in place but in action What's a restaurant look like What's a retail shop look like What's a warehouse or a manufacturing float like any Anything Judy your pat You'd add to that It was a good discussion The one thing that we would have recoiled on would have been You must do this by this date because we're just not there Um uh this will slightly and I want to say that I'm taking a shot at myself here This will slightly understate my the depth of my knowledge about item to G When I say that I know it follows two f um So with that paramo Could you please talk about non essential and essential construction including the one that Charlie's described in New Brunswick and as well as anything you want to say on the pipeline Sure So the provision that you referenced in paragraph to GI refers to particular units for which attendant has ah lease agreement to move in by a particular date And that's just designed to ensure that tenants who have to vacate their current residents and have toe to move somewhere else have a place to go But the construction should be limited to those specific units on and on the pipeline that you mentioned Our executive order takes a sector based approach that it's not about particular projects but pipelines are part of the utility exception in that order Now that you're on deck Parimal anything you want to add on the bill related to civil and criminal immunity shore so that civil immunity provision in that bill only apply to simple negligence So the types of malpractice that you're referencing that include willful conduct our gross misconduct they wouldn't be covered on the criminal immunity provision In that bill they only apply to situations in which there's a shortage of that delayed er's on hospitals have to make decisions involving triage at them Judy do you want to add to that last piece It does not take away a person's right to assert acclaim Um if they feel that they've been wronged in some way and then we'll be adjudicated in the courts Right counselor Good choice Very quickly for two G That is that for new construction Or we only talk about buildings that are just renovating a unit because it does apply to both new construction and existing construction of those specific units You good Thank you Before we go to lease anyone in the back you guys gotta question either of you You guys got at least good Good afternoon Colin Whatsit Good afternoon Did the White House uh Sage Estates that they must acquire their own test kits What did the White House say is They're testing solution And where you promised any test kits How will New Jersey and the other states make good on this testing and tracing idea Also you mentioned a Secaucus marry it Are patients being treated there or our workers being housed there And a question from Tom Davis from Patch Do you do you expect that when patients return to school they'll have to wear masks Sorry When kids return to school do you expect that when students return to school they'll have to wear masks Okay Um thank you for those um on testing I don't I don't know that there was a big discussion as to who's getting what in terms of testing I do know this that we are in constant communication with the White House on tryingto work with them to get the right testing infrastructure and regime in place Do you recall Any discussion is too either you know so that I can't I don't have a lot of clarity in terms of we all came here on the Here we go But the cliff there we are Um uh So I don't All I could say is we are aggressively taking the lead on that and hoping to do that in some concert The depth of that concert I can't tell you yet because it's not knowable yet but I want to do that as much as possible with White House with the federal government Um and I mentioned one example at least a lot but it's the sort of you know Judy and Christine and their team's doing a lot of tire kicking with the wreckers Saliva test is the one example that I think we've talked about most Um and we will make sure that that is I will tell you this definitively regardless of how we do it or where we get them We will not be reopening unless there's confidence by the group of us up here on our teams that we have got a testing regime in place that meets the standards that we're gonna need in a contact tracing regime in place that meets the standards that we're going to need I'm gonna skip to the last one and give you my personal opinion and then I'll defer to the experts of both what's gonna go on in Secaucus and masks But I would bet the answer's yes that we will be masked when kids go back to school That will be my personal guest But Judy over to you Do you want some of that interested caucus We'll talk about Secaucus That's for individuals that are in convalescent care for instance need very little actual care but need to sit out of quarantine period of time and cannot return to their homes If they have one it could be for homeless as well And additionally there's room set aside for health care Workers who are doing you know shifted upon shifts and want to crash for a while or want Thio for their have tested positive and are in quarantine and do do not want Thio uh sit out that quarantine at home or isolation at home So it's for both but no actual care I'm sorry No no please That's a good I've given you a personal opinion on the kid's wearing masks but that is that would be my guess And that's an opinion not a mandate Secondly again I repeat something I said earlier we have deliberately bought ourselves another window of four weeks So that's my answer today based on what we all know today But let's see what that looks like when we make any other decisions If it again schools are remote learning at least at least until May 15th I want to repeat that we've not made the decision that we're going back to school on the 15th of the 18th Whenever that is there were remote until at least the 15th You could I would think anybody in anybody Yes I would think so Yes Again One guy's opinion drive Any violent disagreement down here in that Okay Uh thank you sir In the back Do you want Hold on I've missed anybody here Right You guys are good Governor Have a question from Colleen It NJ spotlight Um well multiple part but related question Can you give us an update on furloughs of inmates from prison Has it started yet or when will it start Do you have a number that you're aiming for And will people be eligible for release if they have medical conditions but are in a location e a halfway house without any known cases without what without any known cases Okay Do you have other anything for yourself That's OK Um the furlough process is underway The review process pardon me is underway There is a tearing and Param l will correct me if I'm wrong here There is a tearing of uh most at risk patients I think I said this the other day One tears age Another one is underlying health concerns Another tier is eligible And within a certain window for parole or release there's another tear I think of folks who were denied parole So they're batch ing these It's in process Uh no one has been adjudicated to the best of my knowledge yet Paramount My guess is this is at least next week Uh for first batch of those folks I don't have a number for you yet because they're going through it as we speak and as it relates to someone with medical issues in a halfway house Parimal What's your color on that So those decisions about release and where individuals would be released to they would be made by the emergency review Committee Okay including folks from the halfway house But I believe that's croquettes that you're good with it Thank you Right Nice to see you Hold on one second Um any update It's been a few days Any update on peak either in cases or hospitalizations we still haven't seen that yet Right And to ah month ago is when the lock down started on March 17th is when the first wave started Is that having any effect on numbers or is it still too Too soon Yet And last question only three today Jesus I know Gas owners are calling for self serve gas They send you a letter Apparently Do you plan on temporarily lifting the ban Nothing new to report on self service gas Um and secondly Judy these really are You know are we seeing I'm gonna give you a couple of thoughts but I have to defer to the experts That map shows that we're making an enormous difference in again I gotta think the over tat said this earlier Overwhelmingly people are playing ball and we will never forget that all of us will never forget that Because that's how we're gonna beat this thing And that map would not be the color it is if the walk down we're not having a real impact The positive curves the curve of the positive tests Um he's showing that the anecdotal more than anecdotal But the statistical an anecdotal evidence that we're hearing out of the hospital systems there's the map again is backing that up I think in your deliberations and again my only comment on peak This is within our control folks so so far again Judy and Kristina are looking and we all aren't multiple models that have sort of this shape to them This is a bad worst case infections which leads the hospitalizations This is the best case Let's remember that while we're talking about really good progress and signs of really good daylight I think it's fair to say again I'll turn this over to Judy It's within our hands Tow either Keep it that way or please God don't do this Let your let your guard down Uh if we let our guard down you then have to reassess Peak How bad this is Worst case versus best case You then potentially swamp the system So again folks were still in the war in every war known demand I believe this is true Somebody got killed in the last day So let's just stay the course Please stay at home Keep your distance Keep us getting the map That looks lighter and lighter Every time we pull it up with that Judy will correct the record Yeah I think that as we look at the hospitalizations we are seeing some flattening Then we separate out the state into North central and South And we actually are seeing the progression or I should say the transmission of the disease moving down the state But overall we are seeing a flattening That was the consensus of the group that met this morning and looks at these trends So we were optimistically hopeful Cautiously This is nothing new on peak numbers into why no decision on gas even though I like having my gas But I appreciate that Uh good because I've got nothing new new new one I think Judy let me ask you a question Cautiously optimistic It's still in our control folks to either keep it optimistic or please God don't let your guard down And when you look at the models that you look and I walk and we all look at it we're sort of in a way I would define the peak not as a day in time right now but a period of time and it feels like we're still in the thick of it So I said the other day I mean tell me if you disagree April is gonna be our toughest period Assuming we keep doing we're doing May will be somewhat better We just don't know how much better Please God again if you keep doing what you're doing and then you know we're hoping that we can have the health care infrastructure in place and then we can begin to responsibly begin to open things up in the warm months Is that you know we look at three models Best case worst case and we expect to be still very busy through April and into the beginning of May depending on what model you look at its from now till May 12th And that changes every day Um but we're we're cautiously optimistic and hopefully optimistic that we're leveling off but we still expect it to be pretty high Sorry Last time last not Nelson self serve guests But you just said I want to be clear so I don't write the wrong thing We have not seen the peak in either hospitalizations or cases right I don't think we know where I would think In the north we have seen the peak and then we have not seen it in central and South And it's coming you good and again everybody again I hate to be a broken record This is within our control Best case versus worst When it comes what it looks like when it comes it's upto us We keep doing what we're doing Um this is going in the right direction There's no question about it We let our guard down All bets are off Is that fair to say everybody like So please don't let your guard down I know it's not fun It's not fun for any of us Trust me Uh but it is working Keep out of folks John you get to bat cleanup today on the nursing homes Is there a way Is there a method for the state of a federal government to take over operations at a place like end over some acute We've already sent investigators there Uh if operations are deemed so insufficient can you guys take over operate at a place like that Are you considering that Um are you tracking staffing at the nursing homes Particularly nursing care And can we get two puts Help Put some perspective on these nursing home number's Um testing is not widespread necessarily in some of these places so that might be an undercount of the positive cases A cz Well as many of the residents have dinars and do not intubate orders in place would that inflate the number of deaths that we're seeing there and especially given the population Just try to help put some of those numbers in perspective especially given that the wrong numbers of total destined homes Junior I'll say a couple of general things in the eternity Jenna was good doing the Facebook live with you and Ashley earlier So thanks for having me I would just say this uh the uh the good news I don't want to I don't want to sound like others may have sounded in this crisis but we have wide ranging authority Um but I would just say in this particular case let's leave it where we've said it already which is the attorney General is all over this The feds from CMS Judy you're all over it Judy's own team at the Department of Health is all over it and then we'll leave it at that for the time being But authorities significant Um and then I think the rest of these So you you've got tracking staffing at long term care is because of perhaps not robust enough testing regime Is it possible it's under counted On the one hand in your d n r point on the other hand is it possible that it may be inflated on the other Opposite that Yeah On the uh testing almost all of the uh mull term care facilities are doing testing but we're counting positives and p wise And assuming that the PG wise air positive that's how we're co hoarding patients Um and we do track PP We checked staffing uh we tracked whether they're uh can cohort uh that's the physical plant limitations in addition to the staffing limitations And that's how we know 111 are not able to admit a readmit uh and we expect them to call us if they are having staffing shortages that do not allow them to take care of the activities of daily living first and foremost of the residents that are there And that's cheating and bathing and changing and making sure that the basic needs are taken care of We're sending in names off and leads from our volunteer portal I just say a couple of things before we before the break We talked about the national and New Jersey postmortem that we're all going to need to go through here So this is not helping put the fire out right now Uh but it's quite clear both nationally as well as in our own state that long term care is going to be a particular focus Hard to ignore that I read an article this morning on Judy You you heard me on our call earlier Uh forget what newspaper it was in But there's a not New Jersey thank God but a nursing home with 150 patients in two members of staff on duty S So this is uh this is sobering As sobering as it gets both in New Jersey around the country and frankly around the world Um something that I said on your Facebook live session John earlier which I think and again Correct me if I'm wrong If you all see this differently you're in one of these facilities to begin with You know in another wise benign world for a reason right It's due to age It's due to a particular underlying condition A disability for what Some combination of things You then add a deadly virus to this mix meaning it ignites in particular in that that community that I've just described I think that's fair right Ah And then there were added to that There are expectations of conduct by the operators of these facilities on We had this awful want acute tragedy in October of 2018 and we put in place the requirement and Judy has done with Team has done an extraordinary job to make sure these folks have an emergency response plan which they were due to give us And did I think in most if not all cases in February weeks there's a conduct There's a code of conduct here in behavior So you've got a vulnerable population a deadly virus And if that weren't enough you've got some folks who aren't doing what they need to do where should be doing I mean this end over thing is a complete outrage And so folks out there have loved ones and they're upset about this We don't blame you and we're taking it You know we got the feds the attorney general your team and inspectors are up there and the other actors out there They better be listening to this We expect them to adhere to the code of conduct that you have signed on to And we expect It's certainly in the midst of enormous health care crisis like this We expect that is a minimum standard a minimum standard of care communication et cetera And by the way we don't hold this against the workers By the way who could blame the workers who are sick trying to not infect others heroically trying to go in wave after wave It's the operators in particular We expect a standard of care here and we will not relent on that So with that thank you Commissioner Judy Person Kelly Dr Christina Tan State epidemiologist Thank you Colonel Pat Callahan Superintendent Jared Param L The whole team A couple of housekeeping matters We will We will put our mass on as we do You'll forgive us here This literally happened me earlier today I will show you exactly what I tried to do in my office so I don't know I made a fool of myself in public after I had done it in my office earlier Um we will be with you tomorrow in the same room My hand at 1 p.m. We will likely again as we have the past few Sundays Communicate with you Elektronik Lee Kota Quote by paper on Sunday Unless there is a reason to be with you either telephonically or in person of which case we'll make that decision I'll probably make that myself Monday We have a White House vtc um and therefore will gather at 2 p.m. In this room on Monday We may We may be ah little bit moving things around Tuesday and Wednesday I think Tuesday we're looking at potentially visiting the Atlantic City Field Medical Station That may impact our timing Um I also I think we want to also look at some of the work that's been done not just a field medical station but some of the work that's been done in places like New Bridge or in East Orange where there's been opening up of wings and or capacity uh at existing health care facility So they're with us We may be a little bit on the move next week more than we have the past couple God bless you All folks keep doing what you're doing It is working Stay at it Don't relent We know it's not fun but it is working And together as one New Jersey family we will win this war We will beat this virus and we will be together again Bless you all