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New Jersey borough suspends recreation programs after uptick in COVID-19 cases

COVID-19 News and Information

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Friday, October 9, 2020

NJ borough suspends recreation programs after uptick in COVID cases

Toni Yates reports Tenafly is suspending recreation programs after an uptick in COVID cases.

TENAFLY, New Jersey (WABC) -- One borough in New Jersey is suspending all recreation programs after an uptick in coronavirus cases.

Mayor Mark Zinna said the number of COVID-19 cases in Tenafly has grown to 231, an increase of eight new cases from last Friday.

Four of these new cases were confirmed Thursday, and officials expect more cases this week.

Zinna said the spike is the result of individuals attending an organized event without practicing safe social distancing or wearing masks.

The cases include both adults and children, though he did not elaborate on the details of the event.

"Our county health officers are performing contact tracing and notifying individuals and families that are potentially affected," he said. "We are in communication with both state and county health officials and monitoring the situation."

He said there was no information linking the spread of the virus to the rec programs, but since the spike involved several children, officials wanted to be proactive.

"Even though many people will be disappointed, we are going to temporarily suspend our recreation programs for two weeks," he said. "The basketball, soccer cage and skate park will also be closed for two weeks. This will give us time for the details to make themselves known and help prevent wider virus spread."

He also announced the Fall Festival scheduled for this weekend is canceled, and recommendations for Halloween will be communicated next week.

"We will continue to communicate any changes in the current case numbers or further spread," he said. "We are also addressing organized events that do not follow social distancing and face covering requirements."

The number of deaths in Tenafly stands at 23.

Separately on Friday, Governor Phil Murphy announced $60 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund will go to the Local Government Emergency Fund to aid counties and municipalities that were excluded from the federal government's direct allocation plan.