Murphy Extends Public Health Emergency In NJ For Another Month
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NEW JERSEY — New Jersey's Public Health Emergency has been extended for another 30 days - just a day before it was set to expire.
Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 288 on Thursday extending Executive Order No. 280. The declaration was originally put in place on Jan. 11, 2022 to fight the "Omicron Tsunami" causing coronavirus cases to surge earlier this year.
This comes days after Murphy announced he was dropping New Jersey's school mask mandate on March 7. Read More: Schools Can Extend Mask Mandate, But NJ Requirement Ends In March
By declaring the state of emergency, Murphy is able to unilaterally extend a number of his emergency executive orders.
It also allows the state to continue vaccine distribution, vaccination or testing requirements in certain settings, the collection of COVID-19 data, implementation of any applicable recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent or limit the transmission of COVID-19, staffing and resource allocation, and other critical components of the State’s COVID-19 response.
This latest Public Health Emergency will expire after 30 days unless renewed. This latest state of emergency comes with no new restrictions.
COVID-19 metrics in New Jersey will be reevaluated prior to the expiration date to determine if another extension will be needed.
Senator Anthony M. Bucco disagreed with Murphy's extension.
"By every metric, New Jersey’s COVID numbers have plummeted to the point that overbearing mandates and executive orders are completely unnecessary," said Bucco (R-25). "Governor Murphy should let the Public Health Emergency expire this week and give back the emergency powers and parental rights he has taken from New Jerseyans."
The number of positive cases in New Jersey continues to drop with 2,654 new case positives on Thursday. This is roughly 20,000 cases less than last month when Murphy initiated the emergency.
Hospitalizations are also down with 1,708 cases with COVID-19 reported Thursday from 2,963 people last week.
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This article originally appeared on the Hillsborough Patch
