ASBURY PARK, NJ – Governor Phil Murphy today said although he is using science to guide him through the process of reopening New Jersey, he has a gut feeling we have not seen the last of the COVID-19 virus in New Jersey.
Murphy said if New Jersey’s recovery started going backwards, he wouldn’t rule out shutting everything down again.
“You have to leave that on the table as a consideration, I hope to God we don’t have to,” Murphy said. “We now test more than any other state in America, we’re building our contact tracing and isolation plans…but we have to leave all options on the table.”
“I’m less worried about the outdoor stuff, I’m far more worried about when we get inside,” he added. “My gut tells me, and I’m practicing without a license, but this will come back, but God willing it will come back in spurts, but with contact testing and contact tracing, we can push it back down.”
Isolating and quarantining infected patients has been a cornerstone of Murphy’s plan to defend the state against a resurgence in the virus. In May, he laid out his four-step plan to contain future outbreaks.
“So, here are the six principles that will keep New Jersey on the road back, using renewed public health to create renewed economic health,” Murphy said. “Adhering to the first four principles will secure our public health… One, following trends of sustained reductions in new COVID-19 cases and other key metrics reflecting a decreasing burden of disease; Two, expanding testing capacity and speeding-up the return of results; Three, robust contact tracing; And, four, ensuring safe places where those positively diagnosed in the future can isolate; When we have accomplished these, we can move to principle number five, responsibly restarting our economy to restore our economic health.”