UPDATE FROM MAYOR BHALLA ON COVID-19

Below is a update from Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla for Hoboken residents:

I commend Hoboken business owners like Chef Anthony Pino, owner of Bin 14 and Anthony David’s, who are able to remain open and employ staff during this period of uncertainty. Chef Pino and his staff are cooking meals for first responders and our elderly neighbors on a daily basis, through a “Feed it Forward” program. Thanks to Chef Pino for being one of several business owners in Hoboken who are doing everything possible to support our community.

Impact of COVID-19 in Hoboken

The Hoboken Health Department reported two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hoboken yesterday, for a total of 404 known cases in Hoboken. There were no fatalities yesterday due to COVID-19.

New Jersey is seeing some positive trends, as Governor Murphy reported the curve of new, known COVID-19 cases state-wide remaining flat, with a reduced amount of daily hospitalizations along with more COVID-19 hospital discharges compared to admittances. State-wide, the number of patients in critical or intensive care because of COVID-19 remains stable after a period of increase.

I’ve received several comments about Hoboken’s confirmed cases. I do want to point out that the data we provide on a daily basis are our known, confirmed cases through the Communicable Disease Reporting and Surveillance System (CDRSS), as is used across the State. Like all municipalities across New Jersey and the entire country, the amount of actual cases is certainly higher as many have likely not gotten tested and self-isolated at home or are asymptomatic and not eligible for testing. Since the City of Hoboken purchased a mass quantity of tests, which include the new rapid tests, Riverside Medical has loosened the criteria for testing individuals that show any COVID-19 symptoms as well as more than one person in the household.

Looking forward, we may not fully know the actual infected rate in New Jersey, Hoboken, and across the country until widespread antibody testing is available. Until then, we will continue to provide the best, known information regarding confirmed cases and fatalities, available to us.

Red Bulls partner with City of Hoboken Recreation Department

If you’re looking for a fun, at-home workout for your kids, the New York Red Bulls are now offering free, at-home youth soccer programming. While our children aren’t yet able to play sports on our fields, this new, virtual training program will allow children to work on soccer training safely at home.

Each week, the Red Bulls training staff will share new content and videos for your child to develop skills and fitness, including technical training, at-home workouts, video analysis, and more. For more information, weekly content, and to sign-up, please use this link: https://win.gs/34zyxfm. Through the program, your child can track progress by using a scorecard and also participate in weekly challenges, and even check out surprise guests through the Red Bulls.

Thank you to Director Leo Pellegrini for working with the Red Bulls to offer this free option for our residents, and I hope it can be well utilized to bring some relief to parents and children.

For those who provided payment for spring recreation activities for their children through the City of Hoboken recreation department, we will offer a credit for a future recreation season.

Questions about unemployment claims

I know that several residents who have applied for unemployment may not have received a status update or need clarification about their application. The State has indicated that additional staff has been added at the Department of Labor, and now also has a new web portal allowing residents to directly contact the Department of Labor. If you have a question and want to submit a message about your unemployment application, please go to www.myunemployment.nj.gov, select “Need Help” from the top navigation, choose send an email, and choose “submit a message through our new online form.”

Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps

I am enormously grateful to our first-responders who are on our front lines, including our volunteers at the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Over the past month, they’ve been working overtime to try to help save lives and keep our residents safe during the COVID-19 outbreak. Since March 14, the Ambulance Corps answered a total of 771 calls for service, compared to 514 calls a year ago, an increase of 257 calls. Approximately 30-40% of the calls were patients with COVID-19 symptoms.

With our EMS volunteers working around the clock to respond to COVID-19, the best thing we can do is to stay home as much as possible, which will help reduce their non-COVID-19 calls to service.

Face cover reminder

As a reminder, to reduce the potential for contamination, please try to avoid touching your face or face cover when possible when out in public, or to sanitize before touching your face cover. This is a common and understandable mistake that is occurring as we all adjust to this new requirement.

Pets and COVID-19

Yesterday, two pet cats in New York tested positive for COVID-19. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is currently no evidence that pets play a significant role in the spread of COVID-19, and the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to humans is low (based on current information). The CDC currently advises pet owners to take the same precautions for pets as humans. This includes not allowing pets to interact with people or animals outside the household and to keep dogs and pets on a leash and six feet from other animals or humans. If you have COVID-19, the CDC advises to avoid contact with your pet, and if this can’t be avoided, to wear a face cover and wash your hands.

Thank you, Hoboken, and as always please stay safe and indoors.

Sincerely,

Ravi S. Bhalla

Mayor