reopen new jersey

Reopening New Jersey: 11 schools are reporting coronavirus outbreaks in NJ

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Judy Persichilli talks about the outbreaks in NJ schools.

NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- Despite Governor Phil Murphy saying that the reopening of New Jersey's schools is going "smoothly," the state's health commissioner announced 11 outbreaks.

That means that there are two or more cases in 11 schools in the state that occurred as a result of contact at the school as determined by contact tracers.

In an effort to provide transparency and public information while maintaining privacy, the New Jersey Department of Health will now report instances of in-school transmission as well as COVID-19 cases identified.

The governor said, "Our overarching aim remains ensuring that our schools do not become the epicenter of new outbreaks. We have in place the protocols and guidance to ensure that, when identified, a case is removed as quickly and carefully as possible from the building environment."

The 11 schools that have cases are located: 3 in Cape May, 2 in Burlington, 2 in Gloucester, 1 in Bergen, 1 in Ocean, 1 in Passaic and 1 in Sussex. There are more than 3,000 schools in the state.

The governor reported that in the coming weeks, some of the all-remote schools will be switching to either a hybrid or in-person model as laid out in their reopening plans.

"In every case, we will continue to work closely with our districts and communities to ensure a safe process," Murphy said.

There are still fewer than a dozen districts finalizing their written plans but, given where their plans were in the process, all of these schools are open, either in-person, hybrid, or remotely, and are currently serving their students and communities, according to the governor.

Meantime, cases continue to rise in the state, especially in Ocean, Monmouth, and Middlesex counties.

The daily positivity for tests from September 26th was 3%. The statewide rate of transmission remains 1.15.

WATCH: Eyewitness to a Pandemic

It overwhelmed the health care industry, it put millions out of work, it drowned social services in an ocean of need and threatened the food supply Americans had long since taken for granted. At the apex of the crisis and for the weeks that followed, no part of life, or even what followed life, was spared.