Trenton tests six people for cornoavirus, two ‘negative’
TRENTON » Six capital city residents have been tested for the novel coronavirus with two coming back negative, officials said Monday.
While Mercer County has six confirmed cases of the respiratory illness, Trenton still has none confirmed. Health officials await results of the four other tests, city spokesman Connor Ilchert said.
He did not immediately have more information, as city officials continued to ramp up efforts to deal with the growing pandemic.
But The Trentonian has learned that a dispatcher for the Trenton Police Department and his wife have been exposed to the respiratory illness.
The wife works in an office in Princeton where she was exposed to a person who tested positive for COVID-19, reportedly one of the cases in Princeton who already tested positive. It was not clear if the contact was with a Princeton resident or employee of the university.
The dispatcher is in isolation and cannot report back to work until cleared by a doctor and won’t be penalized for any sick time.
Mayor Reed Gusciora has said the couple is asymptomatic.
“All you need is one person in City Hall [to get sickened] and then the whole place would shut down,” the mayor said. “We’re doing everything we can to keep people healthy.”
However, The Trentonian has learned of a Trenton dispatcher who posted on Facebook that he was being tested for coronavirus, after coming back negative for the flu and strep throat, because he had a low-grade fever, chills and dry heaves.
It was unclear whether it was the same dispatcher Gusciora said was asymptomatic.
A fire department employee is also among those who may have been exposed to the virus, according to internal correspondence reviewed by The Trentonian.
City officials are requesting 300 masks to help protect police officers while responding to calls during the outbreak.
Police are taking precautions while responding to calls that include taking reports over the phone for minor crimes and incidents.
They’re also interviewing people outside of homes whenever possible to limit exposure, part of a larger effort by state officials to protect law enforcement during the outbreak.
As health officials call for social distancing, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal on Monday issued guidelines urging police to use telephone and video conference whenever possible to cut down on inperson contact during calls.
“Faced with this unprecedented health crisis, our work as members of law enforcement is more important than ever,” Grewal said. “Our law enforcement leaders and officers are among the best in the nation, and I know that, working together, we will rise to this challenge. The guidance we are offering today represents commonsense measures, supported by health experts, to keep our officers safe while meeting our duty to protect our communities.”
The AG also instructed prosecutors to delay filing charges against suspects in cases that do not “imminently
impact public safety.” He cautioned prosecutors to use discretion about who they detain during the pandemic.
Grewal also directed county prosecutors to have assistant prosecutors on call to make charging decisions about anyone who doesn’t follow the governor’s executive order, which shuttered schools, gyms, movie theaters and other non-essential businesses.
Grocery stores, pharmacies, medical supply stores, gas stations, and healthcare facilities are exempt from Gov. Phil Murphy’s shutdown edict, and officers have been instructed not to enforce local ordinances that may limit those establishments hours, Grewal said.
Mayor Gusciora declared a state of emergency on Saturday, following emergency efforts undertaken by county executive Brian
Hughes and Gov. Murphy.
llchert said the city was “doing everything we can” to follow the state shutdown order after New Jersey’s confirmed coronavirus count jumped by 80 to 178 cases, including at least two deaths, state health officials said.
Mercer
County announced
Monday it was indefinitely shuttering all non-essential facilities at the close of business Monday.
That included the clerk’s office and McDade Administration building, the Board of Social Services, one-stop career center, county libraries, the Mercer County Improvement Authority, Cure Insurance Arena and Arm & Hammer Park.
Criminal and civil courthouses
and the county surrogate remain open only for emergency proceedings, Hughes said.
The county jail, sheriff’s office and emergency communications center also open, along with county public spaces which are still being patrolled by park rangers.
Trenton-Mercer Airport must stay open to allow for medivac, military and state police operations, Hughes said.
“The purpose of this action is to reduce the movement of people in county buildings for the health and safety of our employees and the public with whom they
interact,” Hughes said in a statement.
Trenton City Hall was already restricted to essential personnel, and schools, senior centers and recreation facilities were closed until at least March 27.
The governing body planned to meet remotely this week, Ilchert said. And the city was working with area hospitals to establish a mobile testing site, the mayor’s spokesman said.
Mercer County has a half-dozen cases, with at least four in Princeton.
Health officials there announced a woman who works at Princeton University and three others tested positive for the coronavirus
after attending a Feb. 29 house party.
No other information was immediately available about the location of Mercer County’s two remaining confirmed cases.
A Robbinsville cardiologist and his wife also tested positive for the coronavirus but weren’t being counted as part of Mercer County’s tally because they live in Burlington County.
And Hamilton officials announced over the weekend that a person “associated with” Mercer Elementary School tested positive for COVID-19.
The school is part of the Mercer County Special Services School District which
provides educational services to special education students throughout the county.
Sources told The Trentonian that the individual is a teacher who resides in Toms River in Ocean County.
The Hamilton Health Department was awaiting a list of residents who came into contact with the teacher.
Kimberly J. Schneider, Superintendent of Schools for the Mercer County Special Services District, sent out a letter that said a “limited number of students and staff have potentially had close contact with the presumptive positive individual.”