Coronavirus New Jersey: State Set To Open Largest Field Hospital To Confront COVID-19 Pandemic
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey is set to open its second, but largest yet, field hospital as part of the effort to confront the COVID-19 outbreak. Gov. Phil Murphy and other state and military officials were set Wednesday to tour the 500-bed facility in Edison at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center.
Another field hospital opened recently in Secaucus and has 250 beds.
The field hospitals are expected to serve only non-coronavirus patients, taking pressure off other facilities so they can address those with COVID-19, according to the governor.
Another facility is expected to open in Atlantic City, though it's not clear when.
New Jersey is among the hardest-hit states in the country. More than 1,200 people have died so far, and 44,000 residents have tested positive, according to state health officials.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
A look at other developments:
NJ TRANSIT DEATH
New Jersey Transit has reported its first death from COVID-19.
Conductor Joe Hansen was 62 and had worked for the agency for more than 20 years, most recently on the Raritan Valley Line.
Eighty-seven NJ Transit employees had tested positive for the coronavirus, including 57 who work operating trains or buses or cleaning stations, the agency said Tuesday.
More than 500 employees were quarantining as they awaited test results, President and CEO Kevin Corbett said. NJ Transit has approximately 12,000 employees.
___
NURSING HOME DEATHS
At least a dozen deaths at an Elizabeth nursing home were attributed to the virus, Mayor Chris Bollwage told NJ.com .
The facility has been closed to new admissions.
Coronavirus is hitting New Jersey's nursing homes hard. Half of the state's 375 facilities have at least one positive case of the virus, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli has said.
___
OCEAN CITY OUTSIDERS
The mayor of a New Jersey Shore town says residents have been begging him to close the bridges into town to keep outsiders away during the virus outbreak.
Jay Gillian wrote in a message to residents Tuesday night that he does not have that authority.
But even if he did, the mayor wrote, that would set a bad precedent. "Now is not the time to point fingers and to blame others," he wrote. "It's a time to work together. If we spend our energy scorning our neighbors, we will leave scars that will last much longer than coronavirus."
Ocean City is one of many resort towns around the nation where a contentious online debate has raged — pitting year-round residents against visitors or summer residents — over whether it is appropriate for part-timers to go there during the virus outbreak, potentially spreading contagion and overwhelming local resources.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
