good afternoon I am ah apologizing We move this not once but twice So I appreciate everyone's patients particularly given nasty weather And with that I'd like to before we get into the specifics on Cove in 19 and Corona Virus would like to ask Pat Callahan to give us a quick sense of the weather this afternoon into this evening Thanks Governor It does look somewhat nasty out there is You know there is a tornado watch into effect until 6 p.m. For 16 of our 21 counties I won't go through them all but it's kind of the five Northeastern that are not under that tornado Watch the difference between the watching a warning Israel The watch is about broad areas where conditions could exist for the development of a twister or tornado The warning or like a highly localized where we see that the tornado is imminent So beyond that wind gusts up to 70 miles an hour kind of making their way from Delaware north towards the Poconos We've already had a lot of flooding and 100 And Burlington County we have a partial building collapse in north hand over Patterson partial building collapse the boardwalk by the Wildwood Convention Center has some damage to it So between the high winds the thunderstorms and the expected hale it is gonna be nasty out there Three Only good news Governor Is tomorrow supposed to be a lot nicer And currently we're dealing with about just over 47,000 power outages from the north to the south part of the state Governor Pat Thank you I also I got some pictures Text it to me by Congressman Van Drew in the Wildwood reality It's really clipped us in a bunch of different places again If folks see a downed power line don't go near it Please God uh call it in to your utility provider If your power goes out Don't assume your neighbor called it in You please call it in yourselves And don't We don't want you out right now period Even if it were sunny and 75 degrees But certainly don't go out unless you absolutely have to over the balance of the afternoon So I appreciate that Thank you So again Welcome I'm joined today by the woman on my right Who needs no introduction The commissioner Department of Health Judy Purse Achille Tow her right Department of Health Communicable Disease Service medical director Dr Ed Lifshitz Both great to have both of you with us The after mentioned already introduced Superintendent State Police Colonel Pat Callahan directed the Office of Homeland Security Preparedness Jared Maples is with US Deputy counsel para Melgaard to answer questions again Thank you for your patients today What start as we have been over the past couple weeks with the over night numbers Since yesterday's report we have been notified that 3219 more residents have received positive test results Remember our first positive test case was reported on March 4th and since then now there's a total of 64,584 New Jerseyans who have tested positive according to our online dashboard accessible through cove id 19 dot NJ dot gov As of 10 p.m. Last night 7781 residents were reported hospitalized I get that right Jane um of whom 1886 relist it in critical or intensive care and 1611 ventilators were in use And for the 24 hour period ending at 10 p.m. Last night happily 556 residents were discharged and we celebrate this with them and their families Their successful battle against Cove in 19 gives this continual hope for our larger war against this enemy To quote a New Jersey icon Mr Bon Jovi who says You can't go home As it must be noted the dashboard pulls data as it is reported each night by hospitals to the New Jersey Hospital Association There may be overnight changes or late reports Is Judy I'm sure will agree with that are not yet reflective in that data So these numbers are just a snapshot literally in time Sadly we must also report that we have lost another precious 94 souls to Cove in 19 related complications We have now lost a total of 2443 members blessed members of our New Jersey family To put that in perspective that is more than the number of New Jerseyans who gave their lives in the combination of the Korean and Vietnam wars To give you some sense of the staggering Told that this has had on the loss of life every day no matter what This number hits us right square in the gut in These aren't and never will be abstract numbers They're real people who leave behind families whose hurt cannot be properly described Our hearts are with every family I just got off the phone with a very very close friend of mine in New Jersey whose brother is being taken off a ventilator as we speak He's being given last rites 56 years old I mean it's just the stories and the tragedy are overwhelming and extraordinary Let me give you a couple of stories Of the folks who passed since we last gathered on February 10th 1984 the Reverend Dr W Lewis McDowell There is The Reverend founded the Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Passaic and had led its congregation since that very day Reverend McDowell was born in Hawkinsville Georgia but he and his late wife Sin Ella with whom he has now reunited bless them both called New Jersey home and it is here where they raise their daughters Deaconess Andhra Lisa with whom I spoke earlier today and Reverend Pamela Denise over the years Mount Pilgrim has grown into a cornerstone of the community serving far more than just the spiritual needs of its congregation This is the legacy Reverend McDowell leaves May God bless him his daughters and grandchildren and the entire Mount Pilgrim community Paterson police officer Pat Francesco Scorpio areas God love him was only 34 years old when we lost him on Saturday he was only three months shy of making his fifth anniversary as a police officer He will be remembered first and foremost as a loving son husband and father But he will also be remembered as an exemplary police officer who served his community with great pride Our prayers and deepest thoughts are with his wife Christina with whom I had the honor of speaking earlier today and his young sons Francesco Junior and Santy No I think Santino I think Francisco Junior from CORRECT is four years old and Santy know is six months So to his late to his wife Rather and his two sons as well as his mother and father Anna and Sam We said our prayers Phillip Dover Areas was an NJ Transit bus operator having joined the ranks in 1996 he was a proud member of the Amalgamated Transit Union and is sadly there first member to pass because of covert 19 He served our state and the thousands upon thousands of writers over the past 24 years who depended on him and he did all of that Serving with distinction He leaves behind his mother May and his brother Marco had the honors of speaking with earlier as well And finally I send condolences to Paterson Mayor Andre SIA who has been quite public with his own positive There's Andre the giant in the middle with his own positive diagnosis of covert 19 who lost his uncle to his left In this picture John Obi Ji a Syrian immigrant who became a successful chemical engineer His story is the story of New Jersey and of America Mer Cy and his family are in my prayers and our prayers and I know in the thoughts of many others these air just four The now well more than 2400 stories that we could sit here until we honor every lost life and we will do everything in our power to ensure that we come out of this emergency with more of our family intact there is literally no amount of money that is too high to pay to save a life Our hearts are heavy yet they are also unbowed We have to continue practicing our social distancing We're already weeks into this and certainly is it isn't any more fun and we have many more ahead of us We simply cannot get complacent We can't let our vigilance slip but let's look at this Map is we've been looking at from time to time That map looks better every time we bring it up and that is a cause of hope This is the shading depends on the amount of time it takes to double infections in any one of the 21 counties in New Jersey We first showed this Tia It was orange There's only one county left that's orange and red And now it's one orange some yellow and a lot of that shot shaded like grey That is good news Our job is to make sure all 21 counties first and foremost get to be his light of shade as possible and our collective efforts have taken many parts of the state as I said from red to where it looks today and that's good It means as I said the rate of new cases and of transmission is slowing but we But if we let up it can just Aziza Lee become red again There's an enormous amount of discussion about When are we gonna peak When can my kids I just got another very impassioned note from a mom I don't I don't know who she is but she's pleading with us to let kids play sports When can we open up our economy When can we open up our society We are trying at every single step of the way and have been since January trying to make our decisions based on the facts as they sit before US eyes based on the data based on the science And there is no question we don't get to that point of economic recovery of societal recovery unless it is on the back of a health care recovery Our jobs right now collectively first and foremost is to put the fire out of my house and we're still not there yet Well the case the Judy you Ned correct me if I'm wrong While the curve that fits into the amount of positive cases is undeniably now flattening the increased day over day today yesterday was 4% That's been our lowest day over day increased since this all started It is still rising These cases are still rising We have got to hit that plateau and then aggressively bring it down back on the other side And we only do that And again I'm begging with everybody We only do that if you all stay home just literally stay home Not just because of the weather today but Pat tells us tomorrow will be better weather So even with good weather days we need you to stay home and stay away from each other even when you are at home And that allows the number of infections to be lower which means the number of hospitalizations are lower in the amount of critical care beds required A loader lower and please God the fatalities are lower and as we do that this allows Judy and Pad and Ed and others to build out the healthcare capacity such that those lines cross at a reasonable level and at a reasonable date We're right in the thick of it folks We cannot take our foot off the gas Now our efforts I mentioned over here to prepare our health care system and capacity Our efforts are continuing to prepare our state and for the potential of upto you ready In the worst case models right now 36,000 residents needing to be hospital hospitalized 6000 of them needing a ventilator Our job the collective nine million of us the many as it were our job is to make sure we pound the curve from the worst case scenario down to what looks much more like a best case scenario But that's not on automatic pilot That's upto us in our actions And so far that map tells us that we are making progress The flattening of that curve of positive tests tells us that we're making progress We have to stay at it I would love nothing war than to Sunday Look up look back rather and say we over prepared That'll be the best mistake any of us ever made But we don't have that luxury right now because we know that if we stop doing what we're doing even one bit Covert 19 can boomerang on us and bring about the worst case scenario So let's stick together and let's keep working together It is clearly working It's how we get that map toe look entirely the calorie wanted to look and it's now that we protect doctors and nurses and first responders and essential workers So stay with it folks What we're doing is clearly working Just keep your foot on the gas Stay home Stay away from each other and we will win this war unequivocally We will win this war switching gears for a couple of announcements if I may before joining you all here This is one of the reasons that we're late getting started Today I held a conference call with governors Cuomo Lamont Wolf Carney and Ra Mondo toe Announce the formation of a regional advisory board or counsel to coordinate not only our cooperative mitigation efforts which we have been very successful in doing but to help guide our re openings Once this emergency passes I made it clear to our neighboring governors that we need to fully coordinate at the highest levels And we worked hard to bring our region together to have this conversation We cannot act on our own Even if we give ourselves an A plus that won't be enough This is incredibly important that we coordinate This must be a truly regional effort especially for us in New Jersey located as we are between New York and Philadelphia or direct connection to Delaware and our economic connections up through to Connecticut and Rhode Island We must be smart and tactical and how our region comes out of this or else we're at risk As I said a minute ago of a cove it 19 boomerang and we'll be right back to square one And that's the last thing we need We're going through hell and back together folks Right now let's just do that once Let's learn from this And then let's responsibly is a region coordinated harmonized reopen our societies and our economies I'm grateful that my fellow governors also understand how vital this is Our region is one of the most important economic regions in the entire country if not the entire world and we are all intertwined So I thank the Governor's This is a This has been a great uh One of the silver linings of this crisis has been the spirit of cooperation and teamwork across states in our region As we have tried at every step to stay out ahead of this and then likewise What we want to do is use that same template and model to begin as we think through the pieces of the puzzle we're gonna need to reopen that we do that as a region and in a harmonized way Other topics We had a very productive video call with the White House earlier today I reiterated some of our needs are thanks as well as previewed this regional approach I'm hoping to speak to the vice president later tonight I just got off a call a few minutes ago with Secretary of Veteran Affairs Wilkie talking about the challenges the enormous challenges and tragedy that we're facing in our veterans homes in particular and Paramus in Menlo Park Knock on wood So far violent is holding its own but we can't take anything for granted The secretary had a couple of very specific suggestions that he's gonna run down overnight and we're hoping to speak again tomorrow morning I know there's a lot of legislative activity today where we probably won't be commenting on a lot of that as we usually don't But I would say two things Number one deep appreciation for the coordination support cooperation and leadership of the Legislature It means a lot particularly in a crisis like this and secondly they're passing a lot of bills as Param L alluded to at the end of the week that underpinned the executive actions that we've already taken Somebody asked me Hattaway Executive action It was Charlie vs Bills Personally you'd rather have more bills Ah signed an executive action and that's why we're about 7 to 1 since we took office between bills that we've signed and executive orders But there's certain moments in time when an executive order is the only option And then there are other moments in time we could take the actions through executive order and then the Legislature could come in behind you with great support I might add again and pass bills that I can sign that codify the executive orders that we have put forth on testing The PNC Bank Arts Center testing site was closed today and that's entirely do the weather Quite simply the high winds and driving rain made the conditions unsafe for for both visitors and health workers Toe open today Whether permitting it will open a M on Wednesday for 500 tests The Bergen Community College site will be open tomorrow at 8 a.m. Again for a maximum of 500 tests And you've got to be not only a New Jersey resident but you've got to be symptomatic again We maintain a full list of publicly available testing sites in our information hub at COVE it 19 dot NJ dot gov slash testing And there are dozens more private testing sites across the state So if you believe you are exhibiting symptoms of covert 19 call your primary care practitioner immediately to see if you qualify for testing I think Brady O'Connor now tells me that at least 58 sites in total in the state next today I am signing an executive order to prohibit Internet and phone service is from being shut off until 30 days after our current public health emergency has ended Further all service downgrades service reductions or late fees due to non payment are prohibited unless they are imposed in accordance with a policy approved by the Board of Public Utilities Finally under my order any Internet or phone service that was disconnected due to non payment after March 16 must be reconnected I'm doing this and I was asked about this at the end of May have been over the weekend I'm doing this for a simple reason People actually need to stay connected Last month most of our service providers voluntarily took these steps in accordance with FCC policy to protect their customers during this time and we thank them for their partnership However a ZAY was asked about Some providers have loosely interpreted what it means to stay connected So today we're forcing them to do what's right or get with the program As I use those words I think last week our kids need Internet access for remote learning Individuals need the ability to tell a work and seek medical attention Elektronik Lee Families need to be able to keep each other informed This is no time for anyone to have their connection to the world suffered now switching gears again on the topic of peopie and ventilators As we announced yesterday another 200 ventilators have been delivered to New Jersey from the Strategic National Stockpile This means that we've now received 1550 ventilators and I will continue to push for more I thank President Trump vice President Pence and the entire team at the White House for continuing to be receptive to our needs and doing the math It looks like we've got an outstanding asked the balance of which is now 950 And you can imagine we're pursuing multiple avenues literally around the world away from the strategic stockpile for ventilators and pee pee Additionally this weekend 100,000 medical masks arrived at one of our warehouses thanks to the government of Taiwan and another 200,000 will soon be on their way to Ambassador Lily Shoe And she's on the left there and the people of Taiwan We cannot thank you enough New Jersey is proud home of hundreds of thousands of Asian Americans and Asian immigrants Seeing this support from around the world means so much to our entire wonderful diverse New Jersey family To be clear we're working every possible avenue to deliver The resource is we will need to get through this I have not stopped making every possible phone call to every possible person anywhere in the world in the pursuit of what we need And I know my colleagues have joined me in that endeavor In our approach is bringing results We see it today with the delivery of as I mentioned of 200 ventilators and 100,000 masks We saw it this weekend with the arrival of 78 e m t crews from across the country We have been prudent and disciplined in our planning and implementation and will not stop in our efforts to get what we will need As of now we have distributed more than two million articles of PEOPIE to our health care networks and acute care hospitals In our message to them is clear We will not let you fail We have your back We will keep turning over every possible stone large and small to get the supplies we will need And by the way as we've said many times six weeks ago that list you crept me Colonel we were not in the business of getting personal protective equipment And now New Jersey's distributed more than two million from the state items and we have orders out for at least another eight million at the cost of tens and tens and tens of millions of dollars And by the way if you have any peopIe to provide please let us know reach out to us through our information hub That's covert 19 dot NJ dot gov slash peopie donations and we'll be in touch to gratefully accept your donations and we're seeing donations to first responders across the state Coming not just from big countries are big companies but coming from ordinary New Jerseyans as well Take for example Stockton University graduate student Gavin Rossi There's Kevin on the left You could see him He's using his personal three D printer to create respirators and face shields that he is donating to frontline workers in our fight against Cove in 19 And he's also sharing the patterns he created with other residents who have three D printers so they can make even more And in Bergen County the South Bergen joint your commission has been working with families of individuals with special needs to include the differently abled in our response Efforts have been delivering three D printers to their families and together with their students have been producing face Shields in the first have already been delivered The Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck We are grateful to the whole team especially Superintendent Dr Michael Kuchar and his entire squad and I want to give a shout out to Stephanie MacGowan who is the third from the right who sent this photo to me She's there with her husband and her son God bless them all to them and everyone stepping forward NJ Thanks you hashtag and J Thanks you We know there are many many Maur good stories out there so keep tweeting using that Hashtag and J thanks you So everyone across our state could take pride in what our friends and neighbors are doing And now before I close and hand the briefing over to Judy I'd like to note the passing of a true leader in our state not and I repeat not of covet related causes but of cancer Ruth Mandel was 81 when she passed away on Saturday Many of us know her best for her years as the director of Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute and that's where I first met Ruth She was incredibly gracious and kind to me when it was cold dark and lonely for May and they're specifically at the Eagleton Institute for her leadership of the Center for American Women and Politics From that post she inspired countless students both female and male and might add to choose a path in public service and to run for elective office But she was much more Her story began in Nazi Germany Her parents sought to flee and in 1939 board of the ocean liners ST Louis to escape But the ST Louis as you likely know was spurned at every port it sought out including shamefully here in the United States Forced back many of the ST Louis is passengers would be murdered in the concentration camps But thankfully Ruth and her parents were able to find their way to England and were spared Eventually they found their way to Brooklyn In addition to her accomplishments in academia she also served as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council to her daughter Maud with whom I had the honor of speaking earlier today who by the way herself is following in her mother's footsteps as the president of Williams College and her family Thank you for sharing Ruth with us Her leadership has made our politics a better place She made Eagleton and Rutgers in the world around us all better places to God rest her soul roof And with that please help me welcome the woman who needs no introduction The commissioner of the Department of Health Judy Person killing Thank you Governor Good afternoon Um as I've shared the department is working closely with the New Jersey Hospital Association and all of the hospitals to ensure that we have adequate bed capacity for individuals with Cove in 19 particularly those who need critical care Ah as the governor shared According to the data reported from our hospitals last evening there are 7781 hospitalizations which include individuals who have tested positive for covert 19 and the persons that are under investigation The daily growth rate is 1% 1886 individuals are in critical care And of that 1611 of those individuals are on ventilators about 85% in the past few days we've been as high as 97% Ah Yesterday we discharged 556 individuals who had a diagnosis of Cove it 19 So the discharge rate based on the number of hospitalizations was about 14% yesterday with the day before and the day before that it was 11% So we're slowly making progress discharging more people and holding hospitalizations and more importantly critical care patients somewhat Even yesterday we secured 200 ventilators from the national strategic stockpile and last evening seven hospitals uh went on divert because they were full primarily critical care divert Most of the hospitals in the northern region of the state are reporting that their intensive care beds are nearing capacity We're working with the hospitals to determine which patients can be safely transferred to the alternative care sites that we have been planning for and that we are now operating We've also identified 100 nursing home beds in northern region and another 100 in the central region for individuals awaiting nursing home placement and are currently in our acute care hospitals Ah those homes will be able to cohort they have adequate pp and they have the staffing required for a safe transfer and care of these individuals The field medical station at the Metal lands this morning is reporting 37 individuals and by the end of the day we expect a total of 62 individuals in the field station The Edison site is ramping up They had Avery soft opening on Friday There are four individuals at the Edison site and we expect more by the close of business today And the Atlantic City site is preparing to open next week as the governor shared were reporting 3219 new cases for a total of 64,584 cases in the state And sadly 94 new deaths have been reported for a total of 2443 fatalities 29 of these new deaths were residents of long term care facilities There are 324 long term care facilities in the state with cove it 19 cases for a total of 5000 264 cases of Positive Cove it 19 In our long term care facilities the overall population of our long term care facilities and assisted living is probably about over 60,000 So we're just about a 10% of that population being affected by Cove in 19 According to the data from this morning of the seven laboratory sending US covert 19 results ah 118 about 118,000 were tested Ah and 54,600 came back positive The positivity rate has gone up 2% points to 46.22% On Saturday evening the Department of Health sent out gardens to all of our hospitals on the allocation of critical care Resource is during a public health emergency The document provides guidance for the triage of critically ill patients in the event that a public health emergency creates demand for critical care Resource is that outstrips the supply The model was adapted for New Jersey from your University of Pittsburgh Department of Critical Care Medicine their policy on and it was adopted after reviewing input from our multi disciplinary professional advisory committee Thes triage recommendations will be enacted by a hospital only if number one the hospital is operating under a crisis Standard of care two critical care capacity is or will be shortly overwhelmed Despite taking all appropriate steps to increase the surge capacity to care for critically ill patients And number three a regional authority or state authority has declared a public health emergency The guidance describes the creation of triage teams to ensure consistent decision making It includes criteria for initial allocation of critical care resource is and three reassessment criteria to determine whether the ongoing provision of critical care resource is are justified for individual patients The framework is designed to create meaningful access for all patients All patients who are eligible for intensive care or critical care service is during ordinary circumstances remain eligible and there are no exclusion criteria based on age disability are other factors The framework ensures that all patients receive individualized assessments by clinicians based on the best available objective medical evidence It ensures that no one is denied care based on stereotypes assessment of quality of life or judgment about a person's worth based on the presence or absence of disabilities or other factors And lastly it ensures that discrimination based on race creed color national origin nationality ancestry marital status domestic partnership or civil union status sex affection a LL or sexual orientation gender identity or expression disability place of residence socioeconomic or insurance status is explicitly avoided And to the extent possible those making allocation decisions should be unaware of these patients Character A Six The goal of the allocation framework is to achieve benefit for populations of patients often expressed as doing the greatest good for the greatest number As you know we have developed a regional approach to share resources in supplies across the north central and southern parts of the state Because of this approach no institution should have to resort toe limiting access to critical care Resource is including ventilation while neighboring or regional or state insist institution institutions still have capacity again These triage God lines are intended to be the last resort we hope and have planned that they will not be needed key to ensuring we have supplies the supplies we need to continue providing care to everyone that comes through our doors We need to continue flattening the curve through social distancing Social distancing as you've heard is vital to slowing the spread of covert 19 and we must all take this seriously All residents need to take steps to protect not only their health but also loved ones and vulnerable populations It is possible by adhering to aggressive social distancing You are personally responsible for saving lives in New Jersey Thank you again for staying home and maintaining social distancing It is making a difference Stay connected stay safe and stay healthy Thank you Judy Thank you A couple of quick follow ups with you Is that okay Counties with most positive cases continue to be Bergen number one now Hudson number to Essex three Union for Middlesex Just ahead of Passaic For our top actually Six counties Did you hit race and ethnicity I apologize I was getting pinned up Would you mind hitting that As well as underlying conditions for um the total deaths Um less than 1% are 18 to 29 years of age 4.5% 30 to 49 16.7% 50 to 64 uh 65 to 79 32.8% in over 80 45.5% Ah 41.9% of female 58% or mail 51.2% are white Non x hot Non Hispanic 21.3% black non Hispanic 18.6% Hispanic 6% Asian 2.9% other 57.1% haven't underlying condition of cardiovascular disease 33.9% Diabetes mellitus 29.3% Other chronic diseases 19.7% Chronic lung disease 14.6% Chronic Reno 13.6 Neurological disability 11.5% Cancer Ah and other or 11.8% and 6% have no documented underlying disease Thank you for that again on race The number that jumps out for me continues to be the African American number It's down a little bit I think but not much But it's still about 50% more than the representation of the general population That's something that we're looking at very carefully um Judy's last one for Judy and one for Ed Judy's last points on this directive that went out around the state and I want folks to their Cem words in what you said and that are in that document that we must just underscore no exclusion criteria that period That's an absolute statement Uh individual assessments would be taken right Uh no matter In terms of judgment of a person's worth it turns out you can't buy your way to salvation and that's the way it should be And discrimination No discrimination of any kind I can't be We can't say that more strongly A friend who's a faith leader reached out to me today and said there were some rumors that maybe otherwise in a certain reality in the state And he said You know what happens then is that it's going to be Ah the typical communities that are discriminated against They're gonna be losers and we will not allow that to happen Or Judy Positivity going up a couple of points over a month now five weeks plus into this Does that tell us anything again Assuming that the overwhelming amount of folks who are being tested continue to be symptomatic Yes that's correct Overwhelming percentage are symptomatic And no I wouldn't read very much into a bump of one or 2% going forward There are all sorts of things that go into that number including who's being tested how symptomatic obviously in places like Bergen where they're still overrun their only testing the sexist of the sick in general So there having very high positivity rates So no I we do Look at those numbers going forward but no I would not pay very much attention to a change of one or two points Good Good to know when I'm gonna ask Pat Thio cleanup on compliance PeopIe Anything else And Brendan when we do start we're gonna start with the least over here and sweep across Pat please Thank you Governor Overall for the most densely populated state in America compliance has been exceptional This is a little bit longer but not too long because it encapsulates the weekend numbers in Robbinsville a subject arrested for driving on the influence coughed in the officer's direction claiming to have cove it in Toms River a subject refused to wear a mask in a wa wa and became belligerent He was arrested when he was released again Believe it or not he was went back to a different Wah Wah and got into an altercation with a patron subsequently was arrested again and lodged in the Ocean County Jail in Hamilton Nail Salon was closed and cited for the EOE violation in Salem City Another arrest for somebody active on an N C I C Warrant coughed in the officer's direction saying he was excuse me she was covert positive The city of Newark Police Department issued 85 e o violations and closed seven businesses over the weekend Ah subject left her house in violation of a restraining order to go see her mother She was subsequently charged with both the violation of the restraining order and an e o violation In Paterson a subject was cited for having a non essential business open And in Camden ah woman who was shoplifting got out to the parking lot spit on one of the employees got into her vehicle and proceeded to reverse almost striking another employee So she was charged with robbery shoplifting and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon In addition to Theo Violation and just lastly governor I just like the highlight I know Last week we talked about those 75 ambulances that were that we received from the national Ambulance contract through FEMA They to date have taken nearly 509 11 calls have done 286 transports 58 of their calls have been for folks in cardiac arrest last night We did submit to FEMA another request for 50 basic life support ambulances and 50 advanced life support ambulance So are the surge and uh overwhelming The calls on our 911 system are unprecedented And I just want to take the opportunity Thank all those that came to support our E M s efforts across New Jersey Thanks Go here Here Colonel Thank you for everything Including with E M s teams were doing and what you're doing in all of your colleagues it's not ready Quite ready for prime time But we mentioned last week that California looking at their ventilator stockpile realized that they didn't need all that they had and they sent 100 our way which we put to use immediately Another state I have to say is reached out to us So when we have more color on that but there's a spirit I have to say We're all in this together on again I look forward to our Lafayette We are here moment when we're out of the woods and we were able to turn around Whether it's send an ambulance is back or ventilators or whatever health care workers whatever it might be Other places and states air here for us right now We will never forget that So with that at least good afternoon We're gonna start with you Brent Brendan has got the microphone Good afternoon At what point does the ventilator triage guidance go into effect For instance must you first exhaust the supply of anesthesia machines Why are any hospitals on diversion when we have so much space available at the field hospitals And do we have sufficient transportation to move sick people from hospital A to hospital be And given the ambulance statistics that the state Police superintendent just gave does it appear that people are showing up in hospitals now in poorer shape than they were at the beginning of this Thank you for those Um I would just make one comment Judy I think these were largely to you and perhaps to pat but um some of the steps that were taking we've referred to the refrigerated trailers on that list The directive that Judy put out over the weekend just want to remind folks we would be abrogating our responsibility if we didn't uh pursue all potential considerations here We just have no other choice A cz Judy has said unequivocally and with great eloquence we're going to do everything in our power to avoid ever having to activate a directive like that But we would be remiss in our duties if we did not um again make sure we're prepared for all considerations and all eventualities Judy do you mind jumping in on these Sure First on the allocation uh guidelines They would only come into effect if not only all traditional ventilators Aaron use but alternative ventilators That's anesthesia machines home ventilators by pat machines Um anything that can be used to support pulmonary function of patients would be used first on why um our hospital's going into diversion if the field has open beds The admission criteria for the field is a low acuity medical surgical patient So the people that are in the beds right now require a level of care that would not be appropriate in the field They could be people that have come out of critical care that need 4 to 5 more days of heightened vigilance particularly in there They're pulmonary function that you wouldn't want to put in a field uh center And if something happened would have to be transferred back Although we do have ventilator standby Ah and monitor stand by at the fields For those circumstances we would rather that not happen Um and there was hospitals What type of shape they'll be in Are you talking about Financially I don't think that sufficient transportation whether sufficient transportation and whether or not your last comment I think you're gonna ask that anyway But paths last comments about the ambulance capacity of our people showing up at the hospital Are they showing up in worst condition They were on average when they were showing up a month ago I get that about right Right I wasn't sure whether it's the patient The patient of this Sorry Um there are some instances where individuals are showing up at the hospital's in extremists Um perhaps they were at home not feeling well They didn't call their doctor Uh we have a lot of discussion about um making sure that individuals know that when they get chest tightness or shortness of breath they should get to the hospital But we have a lot of education out there in that regard and on transportation As a general matter do we have enough When I guess the answer Pat is we wouldn't be ordering 100 more if we did I think just same with beds and ventilators will never say We have enough police And what we do we will return to those who gave us So do you have something on the way back or no Nikita you want to come into your wrote to and then I could barely see and then that will come to you I um I just have to today s o the multistate cooperative that you announced Will that be in lieu of thes skunk Works team or in addition to it And then um this is not really related to cove it that much but uh now that Sanders has endorsed by it and ah and still pledged to stay on the ballot do you think that he should pull himself out of the race and off of the ballot as the titular head of the New Jersey Democratic Party So I missed what he did so I apologise Could you say that what happens right Yes So let me pull this away a little bit so it's easier to speak eso Senator Sanders has endorsed Joe Biden but he's still remaining on the ballot Do you think that he should pull himself off of that as the titular head of the Democratic Party Okay the multi state uh the multi state coalition in terms of getting ourselves prepared both as a health care infrastructure matter in an economic jobs matter Um is uh not in lieu of whatever we're doing inside the state It's meant to compliment it but two very much Try to harmonize as best we can I don't know that this is public knowledge but there's no there's no big secret about this This regional council we announced today each state will put forward a public health professional someone who Judy is comfortable with an economic professional whether they're in government or not and then the chiefs of staff for the governor's So they'll be ex states times three But it will complement Secondly I did not I did not see that So I apologize I'm not surprised by that given that Senator Sanders suspended his campaign last week on and I let me think about your question I I don't know that I've got a passion one way or the other but it's pretty clear Joe Biden is the presumptive nominee for president for the Democratic Party Thank you Matt Eso a couple of clarifications if I could On peak surge There were some projections not that long ago 14,000 hospitalizations by Sunday Governor you just mentioned a 36,000 figure I'm curious because we're holding between seven and 8000 for days now Are we projecting a lower peak Can somebody square this away from A And on a similar note We keep on saying that we're short on ventilators and governor you decided the 6000 figure again But on the state's website they say they're at 55% capacity with 1600 use So again I'm curious if you could square that Colonel Um I'm curious if you know the number of the total number of law enforcement in the state who tested positive and just lastly because we keep on getting asked I know we've asked you Do we expect at any point have a handle of local hospitals or help officials reporting up how many people were treated and then released You know other states do have the figures of people you know recovered so just double checking on that Let me let me give a couple of high level comments Judy and then you would pat can come in if that's okay Um part of the reason why this is both the question on how many hospitalizations and ventilators I'll answer both in a in a similar way Here we look a TTE multiple models and I want to make sure folks And I know Judy does as well as this pat that folks have to remember We're not out of the woods So the worst case scenario for the model that looks to be this is a non medical expert here So take this with a grain of salt Which is why I used the number 36,000 the model that I would say that I would look tomb or than the others Just one guy's assessment Your worst case scenario There is 36,000 The best case scenario is a fraction of that and by the way could have been a lot worse So folks we've already probably dodged a significant chunk of this bullet but may I just say this unequivocally If we take our foot off the gas We will still see the current assessment in these models of a worst case scenario in the models map that I look at the model that I would look at more than the others And that's just one person's assessment And Judy is much better at this than I am Is that get youto 36,000 hospitalizations in 6000 ventilators Um I would just say before Judy comes in on treated and released We are the ultimate home rule state and that with that is an extraordinary source of pride for our communities But it is also as a infrastructure some days as an infrastructure and data matter Uh never mind I'll leave aside Budget matter Um it can be challenging And so that's nobody's fault It's just a reality This is the state that the hand we've been dealt and we're we're gonna manage it to the very best of our abilities But Judy to you one real treated and released on and then pat a number of law enforcement Does that sound right Judy Yeah First on treated and released Um we do not have numbers on the individuals come into the emergency room perhaps get immediate treatment and are released Our indication just by the fact that there's 7000 is that most of them are being admitted even if they're admitted for observation Ah and control of symptoms s so I don't have treated and released from the emergency room What we gave you was total hospitalizations and how many are being discharged and it's running between Like I said 11 and 14% day for the last five days That's information that we have Um and as far as the peak is concerned we've said all along we've been planning for the worst and hoping for the best I look at three models every day and they're all directionally correct It's just a matter of timing Three Peak is 30 36,000 with about actually 9000 in critical care and 7800 individuals on ventilators That's the latest peak that we have as of 10 o'clock last night On the other hand we know we have 7000 we know but you have about 1700 I see you and we also know anecdotally that for whatever reasons the CEOs as they made rounds this weekend reported into me that things seemed calmer It may be that culturally the resilience of the organizations are kicking in and they're getting used to this level of activity But we're hoping we're hoping for the best but we continue to plan for the worst Judy Thank you Pat Law enforcement Yes sir And this is Matt With most of police departments across New Jersey reporting reporting as of this morning 645 law enforcement officers statewide tested positive Another 2310 were home on isolating and self quarantines of nearly about 3000 across the state are currently out and not on duty This is unrelated completely Matt to your question But I forgot I realized I meant I meant to mention that we participated in a call this morning We're trying to keep the Legislature not just the leadership but the entirety of the two bodies is up to speed as possible Um and we do calls with them every 10 days or so We've got one I believe scheduled for later this week We all are also and as you can imagine deal with them bilaterally regularly every day We also do something similar with our congressional delegation We had a very good call this morning in terms of both sides of the aisle Both U S Senators I think most if not all of our house delegation a very good sort of update on where we are and where we could use their help and frankly where they could use our help Um and we just want to say this that I endorsed full throated Lee Ah and I know they do as well The National Governors Association Uh ask that the next round of federal help include $500 million of ah direct federal cash assistance for states among other topics We discuss we discussed veterans homes As you can imagine a zealous some other topics Thank you Do you have something in one of your comments over the weekend governor you told renders who were being screwed over by their landlords to file a complaint with the state But landlords coercing people into paying rent through late fees or expectations of lump sum payments at the end of the crisis aren't violating any laws So what exactly is the legal standard the state will be holding landlords to And what legal protections do renters who can't make rent over the next few months have when the grace period ends and they may be faced with lump sum payments or eviction Last week you announced the formation of a task force to address drug shortages at NJ Hospitals treating Cove in 19 patients What have you discovered the thus far How serious is the spiking demand for fentanyl and other drugs used in conjunction with ventilators When we make it through this initial surge what about a second surge Is the federal government offering any help And finally one of our viewers is currently divorced and their partner is keeping the kids away through Ah stay at home order and fear of the kids getting Cove It is a reason the courts are closed Is there any guidance state could provide Read this very specific situation Okay I could tell you I have not been asked the last one Uh I'm gonna ask Para Melt to come in on renter's late fees Recourse Landlord activity One thing we have said this if anyone has a holiday right now The deal is not like say it's a 93 3 day three month holiday 90 days The deal should not be on day 91 You have a mountain to repay from the previous three months Never mind late fees on top of that that's not the spirit of what we're looking for here please Paramount So there are certain existing protections for renters under state law and actually some of the bills that are up in the Legislature today address this so it would depend on the specifics circumstances That's why we're asking people to come forward with their specific situation is it relates to drug shortages Obviously Judy should handle that Actually parable Now that you're on stage it seems to me Ah ah ah Non lawyer Nonbinding observation Using this in the midst of some sort of a divorce reality using this awful health crisis as an excuse for other behavior doesn't feel kosher to me But I would ask your legal judgment of that So I think it would depend on the specific situation I could've just that s o That's probably also ah better answer A zit relates to drugs and drug shortages Um one part of your very good question and Judy can answer the this with more Um uh specificity that I can We have to try to avoid a second surgeon All costs And I think we haven't said this in a few days but just may I just say this even based on what I know Judy even if we do everything perfectly reopening our state putting the house fire out slowly but surely reopening these sorts of viruses on their own have a second and third potential life associated with them No matter I'm told no matter what we do so that could be a reality And please God it isn't But we have to understand that the playbook that we're using now has got to teach us some lessons in terms of how to deal with that not just in terms of opening the economy but please God We cannot self inflict a second search That's what I'm most focused on when we talk about reopening that this our actions have to be responsible such that we don't even inadvertently with the best of intentions throw gasoline on the fire and have this come up again Ah in a spike And that's sort of what I've been When I when I talk about that unless saying it from an epidemiology epidemiologic logical standpoint that I am human nature and actions policy steps that could contribute even inadvertently toe that um any comments on apologize um on drugs shorter Just pardon me Judy And then any observations on second Surge don't want you to Second search As Yogi Berra is purported to have said predictions air difficult particularly about the future And as many other people have said one of things we know is the virus is going to set the agenda not us We've never been in this situation before where we've had this particular virus where you've taken these steps to try to mitigate and flatten the curve and what that will happen We do not know how he will affect it over the summer We certainly should be prepared because certainly in past them epidemics have typically come in waves So certainly if we go into this unprepared and we were to come out of all the steps that we're taking now they're certainly would be a fairly high probability that we would see a wave again at some point in the future on the drugs My understanding is we did get a uh a drug distribution thio Central procurement and that will be distributed thio the hospitals in need But I don't have the particular drugs that were dropped We're gonna go to Dave here and also whether or not there was a federal element to that as well so that we'll come back to that Dave Good Good afternoon my governor For you First of all Governor the regional state plan that has been unveiled today You have any idea what the first steps or the first step will actually be Is there a meeting planned Where will it take place And do you have any idea specifically about how possibly the reopening process is going to start I know it's difficult Nobody really knows but we have a sense Excuse me and then forget the commissioner The triage ethics guidelines that you have discussed today Um do you think commissioner that we will need to enact the guidelines and would we be able to get a copy of the document toe look at and just could you help us to understand what this really means I understand no bias no discrimination But if a situation arises where you know two people come in and there's one ventilator What you gonna do is that the first person who shows up you know again God forbid it would happen But according to the plan that we're developing here that's it So J may I jump in Judy and then turned to turn to you um regional state plan I think we each of the states have to appoint their people So the chiefs of staff we know that is for us It's George Tell me Thank God Uh and then we're in the process working with Judy and our economics team to come up with the right person to speak to the health piece of this and the economic piece Um and then I assume there's a meeting sooner than later I would guess this week on my guess is it's virtual Uh just because we're not doing a whole lot of this is the rare this in the V v T C that we do with White House These are rare in person so I would think that that is the case and I think day there's gonna be in duty should owe an ad shoot opine on this We're gonna have to be convinced I believe that we will have the health care infrastructure in place before we can reopened for business And that sounds daunting but I'm not sure necessarily that's the case But I do know testing rapid testing the ability to be testing at much bigger scale with a quick feedback is gonna be a big piece of this It has to be um you know we've talked about we haven't done this for a few days but we could do everything we can within the four walls in New Jersey because people are staying at home But what if someone were to come in from a lower common denominator state or place in the world or a state That may have done this later and that they were in a different cycle and inadvertently began a community spread again You know we have to it with I think you'd agree with me We have to have some high degree of confidence that that health care infrastructure is is in place We spend off our team spent along Ah lot of time this weekend with White House talking with their team on this exact topic and my guess is they'll be more of that Please I may just follow Speaking of the White House the president has come out and said that it's up to the feds and not the States It's not the governor's He said that this was a clarification I believe um with regard to fake news about this issue your reaction to that And I'm sorry Let me just clarify the question that I had was with regard to the reopening in terms of the first step Do you think it would be something like people in their twenties and certain types of businesses would be able to go back In other words is there going to be a gradual reintroduction of reality of normalcy of reality when when this process ultimately starts recognized I'm practicing without a license A za medical and health matters very quickly turned to the experts I think it's too early to tell it is too early to tell but my answer actually would still stand We have to be confident our teams need to be confident the states need to be confident that the region has the health care infrastructure in place that will allow us to be as nimble as we need to be I just only saw the headline of what the president said My guess is that like everything else this is a consensual process We've got to get there based on the facts based on the data based on the science We got to get there together I am I have the great responsibility of being the chief executive officer in the state representing the safety and security of nine million people And that's something that is unequivocal And I have to make sure I get that right on I certainly hope a CZ We formed this council today I'm very optimistic we could do it in good harmonization with regional partners and would hope that we could do that as well In harmony with the federal government Judy Do Plea and Ed please correct the record and any commentary you have in particular On the so called the triage guidelines that Dave estimate on the triage guidelines we we anticipated that we were going to have to put together guidelines that was in our original plan for a surge That's why we put together a professional advisory committee Multi disciplinary The document will be posted on our website The full document It's I gave you the highlights It's a pretty significant and well thought out document It needs to be endorsed by every hospital to provide hospitals with the immunity to make the decisions that they have to make it the bedside A lot of these things have are already in place in New Jersey As you know New Jersey was a leader in bio ethics committees dating back to the Quinlan situation So they pretty much have ah processes in place so that when those decisions do have to be made they can easily get into the deliberations I just want to add one thing and then we're gonna go to John and call it a day But I've used this example before I don't think you've said I was crazy but you're welcome to to say so Could you see the following Um and you asked a demographic People in their twenties um I still limp petrified of the young person who may be a ce symptomatic who was inadvertently passing that on to someone who's more vulnerable But I think we've said before you could you see a uh something like the following a bar or restaurant someone's maybe taking your temperature or doing something on the outside Inside you've gotten gloves and mast servers You've got a hyper standard of of wiping down surfaces You're at most 50% capacity and ex feet from between one table and the next I Personally I think at least early on that may well be part of our reality And so I'm not suggesting I'm not saying for sure but I also know this the reason why the regional thing really matters And I'll pick Camden and Philly in the South and Jersey City in lower Manhattan Uh in the northern part of the state we'd better darn well be sure The standards for that restaurant or bar are the same on one side of those rivers as they are on the other side And that's a big That's a pretty tangible example of why I want to do this Thank you John So we're still getting a lot of calls from families asking us to check on nursing homes where they have family asking for specific details on Now the AARP is asking for the names of residue of nursing homes we released publicly if not for tips from people we would not have known about the Paramus Veterans Home where there were dozens of dead And now they've got federal involvement from the D A Will you publicly be releasing names of nursing homes Um and we're still getting a lot of reports of deaths at nursing homes and veterans home specifically whether people who have not been tested What is the recommendation for testing at nursing homes and how complete is it And do you think that represents you Couldn't possibly right Nursing home is veteran Home is their policy for testing and that resent possibly a significant undercount of people who were covered 19 positive And in addition to ventilators and pee pee and drugs and things we're hearing a lot of concern about staffing and hospitals from CEOs that Colonel gives us account of of numbers of police and troopers who are out Can we get that for for nursing staff and doctors and you have any reports of people of medical care workers who have died We'll also schools People are crazy about the April 17th day build schools Is Will you announce specifically what happens with school Because there's a lot of people just waiting to find out your graduation and everything Is that a date certain you won't down something Or is there something before that or any gun should give the people that what happens Okay let me start with that one because that's we will Will will abide by our promise A TTE the latest By Friday I would hope will do something ahead of that So bear with us and that's related to schools I mentioned I was on the phone with the secretary of Veterans Affairs Secretary Wilkie Uh just before coming over here We talked to Judy and I had spoken with Pat and George Tell me earlier about what What's what we need right now Right here We need a surge of staffing and your point is a fair one You've got staffing Either Do tow sickness quarantine In some cases I just This is a bridge too far We could understand that staffing and then you mentioned testing to make sure that we had a complete testing We needed help there Particularly again This is in the veterans Holmes Um and so he's gonna he's taken all that in and we're gonna He's gonna come back tomorrow and we will We will have that discussion before you jump in duty Do we go through the data on the three veterans Holmes today I know but I have it Um So we do have the uh the data on the three veterans homes But you want to answer the general general question immersed Sure Let's talk about nursing homes I think you all know that I've been monitoring all the nursing homes and uh it doesn't stop over the weekend for a holiday We were able to contact a number of the owners of the nursing homes over the weekend They pledged to be on site on Sunday and they were because some of them were not as visible to the staff as perhaps the staff would have liked And ah in a number of cases they've increased the hourly rate of the staff members entice them to come back and they've also paid a fairly high price to get the appropriate T p e s O that the patients could be taken care of The residents can be taken care of appropriately Additionally we've sent uh over the weekend a number of names from our volunteer um portal to nursing homes and and the veterans home by the way and they have shared with us that they've had ah large amount of success in bringing those volunteers into their facilities We also are prohibiting any admissions or re admissions to nursing homes that cannot cohort or does not do not have the staff to take care of the patients or the PP and can not assure us that they can comply with all infection prevention guidelines and including the movement of staff between individuals that perhaps our positive or persons under investigation and those that are showing no symptoms so they cannot admit That's why we're identifying a number of nursing home beds for the discharges from the hospital's people just can't go back until the spread in the nursing homes slows down on until they can take care of There are residents appropriately Let me get the veteran Do you have it What While you're sorry while you're doing that is the question Is it possible you've got under account Which was one of John's questions Um in terms of particular cause of death I assume and fatalities in particular Right Um I I don't believe um specifically undercount The accuracy of the of the information as with all of our statistics sometimes is in question But we have a pretty good handle of every nursing home Every patient that's under investigation every member of the staff that is exhibiting respiratory symptoms We know uh how many deaths have occurred in each nursing home and how many have been attributed to Cove It do you want to you We're gonna make a point about D o d staffing I was just gonna make a point that in the commissioner I'm sure we'll agree The reason my hospital especially in North Jersey John are going on differ is not because the bed capacity it's because of staffing So that original department events staffing that were using at the Edison Field Medical Station we've diverted will use the word divert We've sent a lot of them into the hospital's up in Northern Jersey until the senses starts to build down in Edison at the convention center So we're being is dynamic and is fluid with reallocating staffing around the state in those department Defense Medical Corps are huge Welcome to the hospitals in North Jersey Do you want to hit the veterans and then two other quickies and will fold that Sure the veterans as you know we have Mental Park Paramus and Vinyl and Vine Lind is fairly stable with just one resident uh pending results of a test and to hospitalized Menlo Park unfortunately has identified 14 deaths as a result of Covert 19 and Paramus has identified 24 That's out of census off 270 um at Menlo Park and 269 in Paramus Additionally w