TRENTON, NJ – The administration of Governor Phil Murphy has done everything it can to stop the spread of COVID-19 at the state’s long-term care facilities, both state-run and privately run. New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli reported 400 facilities with COVID-19 outbreaks. Despite all the mask-wearing, social distancing, and blocking of relatives from entering the facilities, the virus is still getting in on a daily basis, the state reported.
“We have over 400 facilities reporting active outbreaks. That certainly does not make us happy. We have PPE, we have cohorts, we have staff. They’re doing all the right things and the disease is still coming in to the long-term care facilities,” Persichilli said. “We have tested, we have performed over 2.7 million tests in long-term care. We had a two-week pilot where we tested everyone coming into the long-term care facilities to try to, as the Governor said, stop the virus at the door. And it’s still coming in. This virus is relentless and it preys on vulnerable, elderly individuals. I don’t know what else more to say about that. I think the facilities, the staff are doing the best they can at this point in time and we continue to test everyone two to three times a week to try to stop it at the door.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said it’s not just a New Jersey problem, it’s a global problem.
“It’s fair to say we’re not unique. This is not just a nationwide, a global reality. Frank, you see that, I’m sure, from your perch as Chair of Energy and Commerce, which oversees all the healthcare laws of our country,” Murphy said on the subject at his last COVID-19 briefing of 2020. “And secondly, the Manatt report, which Judy had the strength to commission and then from that a lot of recommendations, including bills that I’ve signed and other Executive Orders that we’ve each promulgated, have improved the reality. But as Judy rightfully says, this virus is relentlessly. That’s the word you used and we have to remember, especially with our vulnerable populations, thank you for that.”