What to Know
- As of Tuesday, at least 113,856 cases of COVID-19 had been reported in New Jersey. The second most novel coronavirus cases of any state.
- At least 6,442 people have died from coronavirus-related complications.
- Gov. Phil Murphy has laid out a six-part reopening plan but says it's too early to for a timetable for its implementation.
A day after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled his six-point "The Road Back" plan to begin reopening the state's economy, the governor announced the group tasked with implementing the plan as the Garden State remains in the thick of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
As of Tuesday, nearly 114,000 people had tested positive for the novel coronavirus in New Jersey and at least 6,442 had died, with more than 400 new deaths announced in the past 24 hours.
"This is not necessarily a one-day total of 402," Murphy noted. "We expected that more deaths which occurred over the weekend just had yet to be counted. They now have."
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Despite the jump in deaths, cases in New Jersey continue to drop and hospitalizations have been lower than a couple of weeks ago, Murphy said.
As of late Monday night, nearly 6,500 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in New Jersey.
'The Road Back'
On Monday, the first-term Democratic governor projected optimism but cautioned the state is not ready to end its stay-at-home order or quit the weekslong social distancing guidelines that have hobbled the economy.
“We will move as quickly as we can, but as safely as we must," Murphy said.
Murphy didn't provide a timeline but said he is seeking trend lines to show decreases over 14 days. He cautioned against using just one day or a “snapshot” in time as a basis for reopening.
The state is also working toward doubling its testing capacity by the end of May, Murphy said.
Restart and Recovery Commission Named
On Tuesday, Murphy announced the appointees to his Governor’s Restart and Recovery Commission tasked with guiding the state's coronavirus recovery. The commission includes a mix of politicians, academic and business professionals.
Some of the people named by Murphy include Jeh Johnson, former United States homeland security secretary; Dr. Ben Bernanke, former Federal Reserve chair; Tony Coscia, Amtrak board chairman; Montclair Film's Evie Colbert; incoming Rutgers University President Dr. Jonathan Holloway; Prudential Financial Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey; AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka; InCharged founder and CEO Jessica Gonzalez; and Center for American Progress CEO Neera Tanden.
Five members of Murphy's administration – including Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli and Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver – will also serve on the commission.
"They will address core economic issues but also issues which directly impact economic health – notably public health, workforce issues and transportation," Murphy tweeted.
Click here for the entire list of commission members.
Pushing Back Property Taxes
On Tuesday, Murphy said he would sign an executive order "permitting municipal governments to extend the grace period for property tax payments." The date was supposed to be this Friday but has been pushed back to June 1.
The existing law only permitted for a 10-day grace period, Murphy said.
