LAKEWOOD, NJ – As New Jersey health officials work to contain a virus spike in Lakewood Township, Governor Murphy said all efforts to date have been “small ball”, a term used in baseball and softball where runs are scored one at a time with small, important plays, rather than relying on a big hit or a big home run. Murphy was referring to the effort being expended in Lakewood, including contact tracing, more testing, and working with community religious leaders to spread the word about COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.
“There have been some big realities. And again, I will say that our working relationship with elected leaders, faith leaders and others in and around Lakewood has been outstanding, but there’s no escaping the fact that that’s been a hotspot,” Murphy said. “Judy and Tina have plussed [sic] in big-time testing and tracing into those communities, higher ed. But for the most part, I’ll use baseball terms, forgive me, this is a bunch of singles and doubles, small ball stuff that’s a little bit here, a little bit there.”
Despite outbreaks in Lakewood, Rowan, and Monmouth University, Murphy said the state is in good shape heading into the fall season.
“I’m appealing to the baseball side. The other point is to remind, and this is I guess a blessing, Tony Fauci reminded us, Judy, a couple of weeks ago, that even if the numbers do go up and we get a second wave, whatever that might look like, we did enter this period in a very strong position,” Murphy said.