the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ , Governor Phil Murphy today reinstated a Public Health Emergency, effective immediately, in order to ensure that the State is able to respond to the continued threat of COVID-19 and the rapidly spreading Omicron variant. Executive Order No. 280 declares a Public Health Emergency and restates the existing State of Emergency across all 21 counties in New Jersey, allowing state agencies and departments to utilize state resources to assist the State’s healthcare system and affected communities responding to and recovering from COVID-19 cases. Executive Order No. 281 continues Executive Orders Nos. 111, 112, and 207, allows Executive Orders Nos. 251, 252, 253, 264, and 271 to remain in effect, and extends various regulatory actions taken by the departments in response to COVID-19.
“COVID-19 remains a significant threat to our State and we must commit every resource available to beating back the wave caused by the Omicron variant,” said Governor Murphy. “While we hope to return to a state of normalcy as soon as possible, the step I am taking today is a commonsense measure that will protect the safety and well-being of all New Jersey residents while allowing state government to respond to the continuing threat that COVID-19 poses to our daily lives.”
The Public Health Emergency will allow 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. The new Public Health Emergency will allow for existing orders requiring masking in school and daycare settings to remain in effect.
Governor Murphy’s public health emergency declaration also empowers all State agencies to take all appropriate steps to continue to address the public health hazard resulting from new variants of COVID-19.
Under the Emergency Health Powers Act, the Public Health Emergency will expire after 30 days, unless renewed. State COVID-19 metrics will be re-evaluated at the time of expiration to determine if an extension will be needed.
For a video message from Governor Murphy on the Public Health Emergency, please click here.
For a copy of Executive Order No. 280, please click here.
For a copy of Executive Order No. 281, please click here.
Governor Murphy reiterated :
This is what this does not mean.
It does not mean any new universal mandates or passports.
It does not mean lockdowns.
It does not mean any business restrictions or gathering limits.
It does not mean going backward from any of the progress we’ve made together over the past 22 months.
In fact, in your day-to-day life, this step won’t have any new impact at all.
What it does mean is that we can continue moving forward with our coordinated and responsible approach to putting Omicron and COVID behind us.
It means keeping our schools, businesses, and communities open.
It means we’ll be able to move vaccination and testing resources more easily to the places they need to be and to the residents who need them.
Keep the FEAR up.
Keep the CONTROL up.
Maintain POWER.
He belongs o. Prison for 8k plus deaths he KNOWLINGLY CAUSED !