by Lilo H. Stainton, NJ Spotlight
This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com

Before the economy can begin to recover, New Jersey will need to see a two-week decline in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, expand testing capacity to double the current level, recruit as many as 7,000 people to track down infections and be ready to house and care for residents who test positive and lack a safe place to quarantine.

That’s according to the broad six-point plan Governor Phil Murphy outlined Monday in Trenton, which includes a series of public health benchmarks he said must be met before businesses and public spaces can safely reopen. Today, he plans to announce the members of a new recovery commission that will guide the economic elements of the state’s revival in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Murphy provided no timeline for the strategy — which lacked detail — and said the stay-at-home order he issued in late March will remain in place for now. But establishing sufficient testing capacity alone could take five weeks, he acknowledged. The governor also said the process would be regionally coordinated with reopenings in six other states, including New York and Pennsylvania, although these efforts would not be identical.

“I don’t know when we’ll be able to formally and finally start this journey. Hopefully, if we all keep at it, it will be soon,” Murphy said. “If we let up even one bit with our aggressive social-distancing measures too soon — even one day too soon — we can easily see ourselves skidding off this road.”

New Jersey has now diagnosed more than 111,000 cases of COVID-19, including in more than 6,000 residents who have died. The impact on hospitals, especially in the northern part of the state, has recently lessened, however, according to state data, and daily discharges have outpaced admissions for more than a week.

‘Public health creates economic health’
Murphy said that economic recovery “will be guided by one overarching principle…public health creates economic health.” The plan he outlined Monday means the state “will be ready to put the car in gear as soon as we see a green light,” he added, noting that getting back to work will still require face masks, social distancing and other strategies to reduce infection risk.

But the six-point plan — “The Road Back: Restoring Economic Health Through Public Health” — provided few specifics, including how it would be rolled out across New Jersey. Murphy said he was leaning toward a statewide approach, but it was too soon to rule out a county or regional strategy, similar to what is proposed in New York state.

“A lot of ideas, not a lot of detail,” remarked Rutgers University Dean Perry Halkitis, a public health and biostatistics expert. “I do think the intention is in the right place,” he added but said three of the four public health goals will take some time to meet.

The plan calls for an “appreciable and sustained” drop in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations over 14 days; these terms aren’t defined in the outline, but Halkitis said these kinds of trends are fairly easy to track. Expanding testing and tracing capacity, and caring for those in quarantine is more complicated, he said.

Murphy has long stressed the importance of widespread COVID-19 screenings for the state to reopen, and his six-point plan calls for doubling the current daily capacity of approximately 10,000 tests. Roughly 205,000 New Jerseyans have been tested to date, or just over 2.3% of the total population, according to state figures.

Testing is still limited
But access to testing has been severely limited by the availability of kits, staff and other supplies, so screenings have so far been reserved almost exclusively for those with respiratory symptoms. Last week, the governor heralded the benefits of a new Rutgers University saliva test, which requires far fewer resources and — according to Rutgers officials — could be quickly scaled up to cover 20,000 or 30,000 people daily. But on Monday, he suggested it would be early May before the state was able to deploy widespread public testing, in part because of the time it would take to assemble sufficient resources.

“That’s a problem,” Halkitis said. “We need to have a better idea of the extent to which the population is either infected or has been infected.”

State Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli has said another task force — separate from the economic advisory panel — is working on a protocol for the testing and tracing, but it is not clear when these recommendations will be available. DOH had already said it plans to use the saliva test to screen residents at the state’s five centers for adults with serious disabilities, a process that may be expanded to prisons, psychiatric hospitals, and other group-living facilities.

Murphy’s recovery plan calls for testing to prioritize health care workers, essential workers, and vulnerable populations. COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on the African American and Latino communities, and the governor said he hopes to use the recovery process as a way to address the underlying racial disparities in health. “COVID-19 did not create the inequalities in our society. But, it laid them bare. So, this is also our opportunity to help close those gaps,” he said.

Once people are tested, Murphy underscored the need for “robust contact tracing” to identify all those who had come into contact with COVID-19 patients. Persichilli has indicated the process could involve 7,000 people to assist with the work, which 99 local health departments statewide are now handling. But the plan doesn’t address how they would be hired, paid, or deployed.

Halkitis — who has urged the state to use public health students for this role, as has been done in New York City — said contact tracers need to be well trained to elicit the right information, including from individuals who may be undocumented or homeless and may wish to avoid answering questions. They must also be culturally competent to effectively communicate with people of diverse backgrounds.

Need for coordination
In addition, contact tracing of this scale must be coordinated through the state DOH, Halkitis said, not the local health departments; state officials declined to say Monday how this aspect of the response would be handled. “It’s got to be one approach. It can’t be 99” separate tracing programs run by local departments, he said. “Otherwise, it would be like using 99 different rulers.”

Murphy also said the state would partner with tech companies, including Google and Salesforce, to assist with electronic tracings and infection warnings, using software similar to that deployed successfully in other countries. “The ultimate architecture” of the recovery will be “some combination of boots on the ground and technology,” he said.

When individuals test positive, Murphy’s “Road Back” calls for the state to provide a free place and wraparound services, like medical care and social services, to those who don’t have a safe place to quarantine. While the state has secured hotel rooms in some areas that could be used for this purpose, it’s not clear who would coordinate or fund a larger effort.

Murphy said the state must accomplish these four public health elements before it can move on to short- and longer-term economic goals, described in the plan as “execute a responsible economic restart” and “ensure New Jersey’s resiliency.”

“That’s the order in which we must proceed,” Murphy said. “It means that before we reopen non-essential stores and businesses before we can reopen our parks, or before we allow in-person dining in our restaurants — among any host of other activities — people need to know, first and foremost, that their health will be safeguarded from COVID-19.”

Returning to work
The Governor’s Restart and Recovery Commission, to be named Tuesday, will provide advice and help plan a “methodical and strategic return to work” based on a matrix that considers the transmission risk and essential nature of each business. Face coverings and work-from-home orders will be required, in some cases.

The final element calls for using the lessons of COVID-19 to improve the state’s resiliency to a potential resurgence of coronavirus or against future pandemics. It calls for hospitals and other health care providers to stockpile protective equipment and ventilators, and for the state to create its own stash to help guard against the shortages experienced over the past six weeks.

MOUNTAIN LAKES — The Attorney General’s Office is conducting an investigation of a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred on Sunday, April 26, in Wayne. One male civilian sustained fatal injuries.

The decedent has been identified as Bradley G. Pullman, 48, of Beacon, N.Y.

The investigation is being conducted by the Integrity Bureau within the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability and the New Jersey State Police Major Crime Bureau.

According to the preliminary investigation, at approximately 4:38 p.m., a marked police vehicle of the Mountain Lakes Police Department attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop of a Lexus sedan that performed an illegal U-turn.

The car did not stop and a pursuit ensued through multiple municipalities. The Fairfield Police Department and Wayne Police Department assisted in the pursuit, which ended in Wayne at the interchange of U.S. Route 46, Route 23 and Interstate 80, when multiple police officers fired at the suspect, fatally wounding him.

A .380-caliber pistol was recovered from Pullman’s vehicle.  Pullman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The investigation is ongoing and no further information is being released at this time.

The investigation is being conducted pursuant to a law enacted in January 2019, Senate Bill 1036, which requires that the Attorney General’s Office conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.

MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, First Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Zelante, and Acting Chief of Investigations Christoph Kimker regretfully announce the passing of former Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of Investigations, Joseph A. Devine. Chief Devine passed away yesterday at his residence in Chester.

A graduate of the FBI National Academy’s Class #198 and proud U.S. Army veteran of the Military Police Corps, Chief Devine began his law enforcement career at the Morris County Sheriff’s and the Morris County Prosecutor’s offices. He joined the Rockaway Township Police Department in 1981, and worked his way up through the ranks to become Chief of Police in July 1998. Chief Devine led the township police department until 2002 when he returned to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office to serve as Chief of Investigations under then Prosecutor Michael M. Rubbinaccio.

In 2006, Chief Devine retired from law enforcement to pursue a career in higher education. Chief Devine once served as an associate professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, teaching graduate classes on homeland security, management, and leadership. He was also an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University.

Chief Devine held a Masters of Science Degree in Criminal Justice, a Masters in Administrative Science, an Educational Specialist Degree, and a Doctorate in Leadership and Management from Seton Hall University. He had presented lectures at several academic and professional conferences, including a leadership lecture about social and emotional intelligence on the USS Intrepid in 2014.

Prosecutor Knapp said “As the Township of Rockaway labor attorney, I worked extensively with Chief Devine for many years, beginning during his tenure as a captain and subsequently when he was promoted to Chief of Police. We continued to work together when he joined the MCPO as Chief of Investigations. Joe was also a student of mine in the graduate program at FDU for multiple courses. As a career law enforcement professional, Chief Devine served multiple agencies with honor, dedication to duty, and excellence. May he rest in peace.”

Chief Devine is survived by his three children, Conor, Sean, and Heather.

By Lilo H. Stainton, NJ Spotlight

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com

New Jersey plans to use a new, easier-to-administer COVID-19 test to screen residents and staff at state-run facilities for individuals with significant developmental disabilities and at nursing homes in South Jersey, strategy officials said could serve as a model for more widespread public testing as the state tries to recover from the coronavirus.

The initiative — the state’s first foray into large-scale institutional testing — will focus first on the 1,238 residents and roughly 4,300 employees at New Jersey’s five developmental centers; nearly 250 people living or working at these sites have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and seven residents have died of the disease.

State officials said they are also working with leaders at Cooper University Health Care, in Camden, to create a testing program for residents and staff at 16 long-term care facilities in the region; the goal is to use this screening to help contain the spread of the virus in a region that has so far been spared the worst of the outbreak. Across the state, nearly 13,800 positive COVID-19 tests have been connected to nursing homes and other residential care sites, and at least 1,540 deaths have been reported, with the worst impact at facilities in North Jersey.

Another 24,000 individuals with disabilities live at group homes in the community operated by state contractors; among this group, 221 have tested positive for the viral infection and 26 have died, according to the latest statistics. These facilities are not part of the initial saliva-testing program, but state officials said they intend to use this method to screen additional state workers and individuals in institutional care, so they could be among those on the list for this approach.

‘Prioritizing vulnerable populations’
“As we work to expand testing across the state, we will be prioritizing the most vulnerable populations like those who reside in these centers,” state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. Residents in more crowded institutional settings, where it is hard to maintain social distance, are particularly at risk for becoming infected.

“Human Services is continuing to work 24/7 to support and protect individuals with developmental disabilities across our state,” said Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson, whose department oversees programs for developmentally disabled residents. “The Department will continue to take all available actions to support our residents and staff.”

The state has faced a growing backlash for its efforts to control the spread in some public institutions, like veterans’ homes and prisons, where the virus has exploded in recent weeks. As of Monday, more than 500 corrections officials and inmates were infected and 16 prisoners had died. A plan to release certain nonviolent inmates has been slow to take effect after Gov. Phil Murphy announced it earlier this month.

Officials said the saliva test, unveiled by Rutgers University earlier this month, is already in use at multiple public screening sites, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s operation in Edison. Starting today, it will be also be offered at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick to screen all health care workers, whether or not they have symptoms; it is also being shared with other hospitals and health care networks, they said.

Murphy to discuss wider public use
Murphy said he anticipates this type of testing will also be useful for wider public application, a process he promised to flesh out on Monday. “I have noted many times having a robust and greatly expanded testing program in place is vital to our being able to reopen responsibly our state,” the governor said at his press briefing Thursday. “I said it on Monday and I still believe it on Thursday that we need to at least roughly double our testing capacity’s minimal benchmark” to allow for a safe return to public life, he added.

New Jersey is now able to process tests for between 7,000 and 9,000 people daily between the public and commercial laboratories, according to state health officials; this number is impacted by the availability of test kits, swabs and other materials needed to administer the test, trained staff and the personal protective equipment (PPE) — gowns, masks and other health care gear — needed to keep them safe. Overall, nearly 100,000 residents have been diagnosed with the virus, including more than 5,300 who have died.

Dr. Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers University Biomedical and Health Sciences — an umbrella entity that oversees the program that developed the test in conjunction with a private lab — said the new method has the capacity to screen 10,000 people a day and could be scaled to two or three times that volume fairly easily; they are currently seeking the staff and other resources needed to make this expansion possible. The process includes collecting a small amount of saliva in a special tube, which he said is far easier, and less invasive, than the deep nasal and throat swabs needed for the traditional test. It also appears to be more accurate, according to a new review by Yale University, he said.

Collecting the saliva sample also involves far fewer clinicians than the previous tests, Strom noted, a benefit that reduces the need for PPE by 90% and doesn’t depend on swabs, which have been in short supply. An easier collection process also speeds the testing protocol, allowing four times as many people to be screened than under the swab system, he noted.

Strom said these characteristics make the saliva test ideal for widespread public use. Rutgers is now working with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka to design a program to screen at least 100,000 Brick City residents, he noted, and the university also plans to use the test to help assess the health of students and staff as it decides how to reopen classes.

Key for health care providers
The test will also be important for health care providers as they continue to respond to the current epidemic and plan for what’s next, Strom said. “As we begin to plan for the ability of the health care enterprise to begin to take care of non-COVID patients again we need to be sure we don’t give COVID to the patients we take care of,” he noted.

While Murphy has repeatedly cautioned against relaxing the strict social-distancing requirements instituted in late March, he has also hinted for weeks at the need to plan the state’s reopening, or re-entry, and coordinate the timeline with other states in the region. On Sunday, he appointed his chief of staff, George Helmy; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President and CEO Dr. Richard Besser; and former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to a multistate council that will oversee this process.

Murphy has also stressed that reopening the state requires not just a robust testing program, but also the capacity to track down and warn all the potential contacts for someone who tests positive, and the ability to quarantine that person — providing shelter, food, medicine, and other services — for up to 14 days. Persichilli said she is finalizing a testing strategy required for a larger, statewide reopening, which she said would be available next week.