From Maplewood Mayor Frank McGehee:
Almost 8 months ago in March, we declared a state of emergency in the Township of Maplewood. Eight weeks later on May 9th, I communicated that we were entering the next phase of the pandemic and moving away from the mitigation stage to the reopening stage of our community but I also mentioned that we were not out of the woods yet by any stretch.
Unfortunately, based on our recent numbers, we are moving back into a mitigation stage.
Here are the Maplewood Public Health Division numbers:
Monthly Totals:
August: 17
September: 16
October: 44
November to date (11/10): 45.
November Numbers:
Nov. 1st: +3 – Age range: 21 to 50
Nov. 2nd: +3 – Age range: 43 to 47
Nov. 3rd: +5 – Age range: 25 to 35
Nov. 4th: +4 – Age range: 8 to 60
Nov. 5th: +3 – Age range: 20 to 65
Nov. 6th: +5 – Age range: 43 to 65
Nov. 9th: +13 – Age range: 20 to 73
Nov. 10th: +9 – Age range: 1 to 82 (yes, a 1 yo)
Total Cases: 458
New cases age range: 1 to 82
Total recovered cases: 314
Also, today Essex County reported 689 new cases. This is their highest daily number ever recorded.
COVID-19 resources:
Maplewood COVID-19 website: https://www.twp.maplewood.nj.
General COVID-19 Questions: 2-1-1 or 1-800-962-1253 (24/7)
Public Health Division: (973) 762-8120
The Health Division works to obtain the recent contact history for all cases, including contacting anyone who has potentially been exposed.
NJ Statewide confirmed cases: 260,430
Essex County confirmed cases: 29,091.
For State aggregate data on hospitalizations, age, gender, and race: https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/
https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/
IMPORTANT: If you receive a positive test result and have not heard from the Maplewood Public Health Division, please contact us at (973) 762-8120 so that we can advise you on isolation, quarantine and contact tracing. Unfortunately we have learned that there is a delay in lab data entry of positive COVID cases, especially rapid antigen results, statewide.
All activities have a certain level of risk but keeping your gatherings small in the coming weeks and especially this holiday season is key. Here are a few tips from the Maplewood Public Health Division:
Attempt to keep your gatherings to immediate household members and try to avoid travel or visiting those who are immunocompromised.
If you are having any type of indoor gathering, we encourage people to wear face coverings. Unfortunately, many of our cases can be traced back to small indoor gatherings where masks were not worn.
Keep your number of interactions as well as the number of people at a gathering low.
Space out your interactions with different people.
Do not go anywhere if you’re sick, and do not dismiss it as a cold or allergies, especially if you are in a household where someone is actively quarantining due to exposure to a positive covid case. Most of our cases are among people who were in direct close contact with a positive case.
If you have come in direct close contact with a positive case, PLEASE complete the 14 day quarantine, even if you tested negative and feel fine. Several new cases have shown symptoms later – Day 8 to10 – of their quarantine/ potential incubation period.
We cannot stress enough that all of our residents take every precaution against the virus.
TESTING
Please check out www.essexcovid.org to register for a test
Or Maplewood’s COVID-19 website: https://www.twp.maplewood.nj.
NEXT STEPS
Our Township’s Office of Emergency Management team met this afternoon to assess the Governor’s latest Executive Order No. 194 (which includes new COVID-19 mitigation measures) and how this impacts our community. The Governor communicated these new limitations based on the significant increases all over the county and the state. In the coming days, we will provide a comprehensive communication for all businesses within the Township to provide direction and assistance with addressing Executive Order 194. Please stay tuned.
